


The Toy on the Wind

by FrostOverlord



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, Bunny goes missing, Bunny in distress, Bunnymund angst, Caused by ancient magic, Fluff, Jack Feels, Jack finds a new toy, Living Toys, M/M, Past Attempted Suicide, The Author enjoys his Shenanigans, What happened in '68, Wind can't talk, and might add more later, but helps out where she can, but is still bad at tags, plush!Bunny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1904808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostOverlord/pseuds/FrostOverlord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On his way to a meeting at the Pole, the Wind finds Jack a new toy: a stuffed animal that bears a striking similarity to someone he knows. When Bunny doesn't arrive at the meeting, however, that little rabbit on the wind becomes more that just a toy to the Spirit of Winter. </p><p>It becomes his friend.</p><p>Updates sporadically, as chapters are written and time allows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Found on a Breeze

He was moving somehow. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d managed it with this strange, unfamiliar form robbing him of his mobility. Last he remembered was being injured by something (he still wasn’t sure what), and then swallowing his pride and calling for help. Next thing he knew he was airborne, hurtling across the sky towards some unknown destination. His mind was foggy, sluggishly grasping at straws as it tried to make sense of what was going on. What was he doing? Where was he? Who was he again? Something about eggs?

The little stuffed rabbit on the wind was too shaken to remember.

Then, he was set down. He took in what he could see with his stained glass eyes, unable to move his now plush head to scan the area. In front of him was a frozen lake, nestled amongst the trees of the snowbound forest around it. Somehow, this place seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place it with his addled brain. He moved his awareness down, towards his body, and found that he was covered in small cuts. How he had come to be so damaged he wasn’t sure, but if the damage didn’t get patched up soon he’d probably fall apart. Then the Wind returned, carrying with it a voice.

“What’s this?”

Had he been able to, he’d have jumped. The voice came from behind him, surprising in its suddenness and the soundless movements of whomever it was that spoke. He wished he could express his displeasure at being unable to scent for the person with his useless plastic nose, certain that he had heard this voice before, but as it was he was forced to wait until the mysterious being approached. Suddenly he was moving again, a cool hand- and he wondered how he could be aware of temperature as it gripped him- around his midsection lifting him with ease and turning him to face the speaker.

It was a boy, or perhaps not a boy, but older. Pure white hair and crystal blue eyes that sparkled with mischief and curiosity looked down at the toy in the boy’s porcelain-pale hands. His smile was bright as he ran his other hand over the soft fur of the stuffed rabbit’s long ears. Real fur, not fake. The boy began to look around, puzzled. “No one’s been around my lake for a few days I think, so how did you get here?”

A sudden gust of wind came as if in answer, and the boy laughed, “Oh, you brought him here, Wind? Well, I guess that means he doesn’t have anywhere else to go, judging by the state he’s in,” The boy looked back at the toy in his hands, eyeing it critically, “I guess that means I get to keep you. If Wind picked you up then I don't think anyone’s going to be looking for you.”

Somehow, the toy felt both relieved and saddened by this.

The boy continued, his gaze softening. “You know, you look a lot like a frie- someone I know,” the toy would have cringed at that correction if he could, for the guilty feelings that it inexplicably caused to shape within him, “I don’t think he’ll mind sharing a nickname with you. You’re, like, his little plush twin!”

The boy laughed, pulling the toy into a half-hug with the arm he held it in, “One day I’ll get him to tell me his real name, but until then you’re gonna have to share, alright? Nice to meet you, Bunny.”

That name; that was _his_ name. The toy’s phantom heart lurched, and the fog in his mind cleared as recognition dawned. The boy, his name was Jack Frost. The Toy, his name was E. Aster Bunnymund. They were Guardians, protectors of children. Colleagues, comrades in arms, rivals.

They also were supposed to hate each other, last time Aster checked. It was a sad relationship, really.

The Wind blew gently across the stuffed rabbit’s brow as understanding began to creep into his mind. Since Jack seemed to be completely clueless, his cry for help must have been heard by an ally that he had never even seen, one that was unable to speak to bring aid, and so instead acted on it's own volition. It- She, if Jack was to be believed- picked him up and carried him to the only person it could: Jack. Why he’d been turned into a stuffed toy and why the Wind had decided to help him Aster didn’t know, but he was grateful all the same. So long as Jack kept him, and he’d said clear as day that he would, he would be close enough to the others that they might figure out where he was. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long, Aster _really_ didn’t want to be forced to hang around with Jack Frost too long. With his luck Jack would toss him around and damage him even more, and who knows how damage in this form would carry over to his real self.

“You really are messed up, though,” Jack’s voice drew in Aster’s attention again, “I wonder how all this happened.” The boy held Aster up near his frowning face, brow furrowed as he examined several cuts that Aster was dimly aware of being on his body, where he knew whatever fluff he was filled with was beginning to fall out in lieu of the blood he no longer had. It crossed Aster’s mind that Jack might toss him aside because of the damage, and he began to panic.

“That’s probably why you were tossed out, I guess,” Jack’s expression softened as he said the words, the gentle tone calming the toy in his hands to an extent. Aster wasn’t aware that Jack could _be_ gentle, and his surprise began to overwhelm the panic he’d felt. “Don’t worry, I know how that feels. Until just recently I got the same treatment, you know? Pretty much everyone I met treated me like damaged goods. Too nice to be a ‘proper’ winter spirit, can’t fit in with the other seasons ‘cause all I do is make a mess…” Aster’s heart sank; he’d known that Jack had been alone all this time, but he’d thought it had been largely because of ignorance, not flat out rejection. Granted, he didn’t exactly make strides to accept the kid after he knew about him, and maybe he’d gone a bit overboard in his reaction to the Blizzard of ’68, but he hadn’t expected the entire spirit world to do as he had done. Jack had to have at least _some_ friends before he became a Guardian, right?

Jack sighed and began walking across the lake, towards a small overhang just inside the clearing. “Don’t worry though, I can fix you up.” Aster mentally sighed in relief at the confirmation that Jack was going to fix the damage, not toss him because of it. “Used to have a stuffed rabbit like you until he fell apart about a year ago,” Jack continued speaking as he approached the snow-covered brush under the overhanging rocks, “Made him myself, but I didn’t really have the best materials for it. I’m kinda surprised he lasted as long as he did; had him for a little over forty years before I couldn’t sew him back up anymore.”

Forty years? That would be… ‘72? '73? Why would Jack have made a stuffed rabbit after what happened in ‘68? Well, Aster decided, if he was going to be stuck as Jack’s new stuffed companion, he may as well use the chance to get to know the kid better. Wasn’t like he could go anywhere on his own, though maybe if he asked the Wind she’d help him out again. _How_ he was going to ask Aster had no idea, but he’d figure it out.

Wasn’t like he had anything else to do except listen to Jack.

The boy in question was in the process of using his staff to clear away the brush beneath the overhang, revealing what looked like the entrance to a cave. He crawled inside, cradling Aster against his chest to keep him from taking any more damage. When Jack finally stopped moving and pulled Aster up to examine him for extra damage, the toy took the opportunity to take in his environment. The tunnel had let out into a cave that was much larger than what Aster would have assumed. Up near the center of the ceiling a pale, blue-white witch-light had pulsed into existence in reaction to Jack’s presence, revealing walls that looked as though they had been eroded until satisfactory. The room was sparsely decorated, containing little more than a pile of cloth and straw that likely served as a bed, a pair of sticks buried in the wall that were clearly for Jack’s staff, and a small wooden chest that probably contained everything the boy owned.

“Welcome to my ‘home,’ Bunny,” Jack said, his voice containing an almost melancholy note, “Not much, I know, and I’m mostly nomadic because of my duties, but it’s a place to keep my stuff at least. If I get to actually sleep here that’s just a bonus, mostly I just nap in trees or snowbanks when I get tired.”

Somehow Aster got the feeling that Jack would never have willingly shared that information if he’d known he was talking to the _actual_ Easter Bunny instead of a stuffed toy that looked like him. Thinking about it, this was the most Jack had ever spoken to anyone in a short period of time, as far as Aster could remember.

Jack set Aster down on the bed before approaching the chest. Aster wasn’t able to see much except the ceiling from that position, but he heard a small click in the direction of the chest after a few moments, then the sounds of Jack rummaging around reached his ears. After a few minutes of searching, Jack exclaimed his success and the chest slammed shut. A few moments later Aster was back in Jack’s arm, watching as a needle and a spool of grey thread were deposited in the pocket of the boy’s hoodie. Aster wasn’t sure if he _wanted_ to know why Jack just happened to have thread the exact shade of his fur lying around, but considering the state he was probably in, he was glad for it. Now that he thought about it, it was probably a blessing that Aster wasn’t able to actually _feel_ anything. While the vague awareness of everything in his immediate vicinity was somewhat strange, it was much better than being in excruciating pain.

Jack spoke again as he made his way back to the entrance of the cave, hugging Aster tight to his chest once more as they made their way back into the open. “Wish I could fix you up right now,” he said, “but it might take a while, and I have to be at a meeting. I’ll be there pretty early if I go now, but it should give me plenty of time to fix you up. Gotta keep an eye out for the other Bunny though, I don’t think I’d hear the end of it if he saw me patching up a stuffed toy that looks just like him,” Jack forced a laugh at that, stretching his legs as the two returned to open air. Aster found himself agreeing with Jack: he _knew_ he wouldn’t let Jack hear the end of it if he found him patching up a toy that looked exactly like him, though chances are the questions wouldn't be the hateful mocking Jack was obviously expecting, but rather confused inquiries as to why Jack would keep a toy that looked like _him_ of all spirits. “I bet Sandy’ll be cool about it,” Jack continued, ignorant to the musings of the stuffed rabbit in his hand, “nothing really surprises him, but North and Tooth’s reactions will probably be hilarious. Can’t wait to see their faces.”

Jack stopped just before lifting off into the air, looking back down at Aster with his trademark mischievous smirk, “Remind me to get a camera, this’ll probably be the second time I’ll want to take a picture of something funny involving the other Guardians and I won’t have one.”

Jack laughed again, tucking the stuffed toy into the collar of his hoodie as he lifted into the air, and for some reason Aster found that he couldn’t complain about the flying. It was probably because a toy couldn’t feel nausea, or maybe because hitting the ground wouldn’t hurt something as light as he was at the moment. Could very easily have been because he wasn’t dealing with North’s horrible driving and instead was moving smoothly, almost gracefully though the sky.

Most definitely wasn’t because Jack was cradling him like the most precious thing in the world as he flew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've got a good idea of how the plot of this little story is going to go, but I've go no idea the specifics of the in-between. Thankfully, I'm almost done with the next chapter already. Very likely this won't be updated on a set schedule, but whenever I get chapters finished up. I'll do my best to keep things predicable, but eh.
> 
> What can I say, I'm new to this.
> 
> Anyways, I appreciate comments of all sorts, but especially those that point out anything I may have missed. After all, It's just me looking this over before posting! So I appreciate the pointing out of errors as well as any advice you all deem to give! Thanks! :D


	2. No-show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians gather for a meeting, but one of their own is missing.

Jack laughed loudly as he rode on the air currents just outside of North’s workshop, occasionally checking his pocket to make sure nothing had fallen out and always, _always_ keeping an arm around the stuffed rabbit shoved in the collar of his jacket. He thanked the Wind for her find for perhaps the hundredth time since he’d lifted off from his lake. A stuffed rabbit that looked like Bunny! It wasn’t exact, more a caricature than anything else with its nubby little arms and legs, but it was awesome and adorable and he already loved it almost as much as the real deal.

He’d never told Bunny, and probably never would, but he’d had somewhat of a crush on the rabbit since ’68. The lagomorph probably didn’t realize it, but he’d saved Jack’s life back then, regardless of how roughly he went about it. It was a small thing, and perhaps a testament to just how lonely Jack had been, but thanks to that Jack had always felt…safe around him. Yeah, the things he’d said during the whole Easter fiasco hurt a lot, but they were true for the most part (And at least once Jack _knew_ that Bunny wasn’t in his right mind. Getting walked through tends to mess with your head pretty badly if you aren’t used to it). Honestly, it seemed like Bunny was the only one that even _registered_ the fact that Jack didn’t have a single believer to support him as a Guardian before that incident, even if he wasn’t very nice about it. Okay, hateful was probably the more accurate word.

So yeah. Minor hero crush on giant alien rabbit that probably hated him. It was a thing. That Jack really should stop thinking about right now because “Hey Phil!”

The yeti in question looked up as Jack darted in through the window above him, mocking smile on his face and mischief in his eyes, both of which seemed to (but didn’t really) irritate Phil to no end. The yeti shouted a threat up at him, shaking his fist in mock anger at the Spirit of Winter. Jack laughed back, waving at his pal enthusiastically.

“Totally staging a break-in sometime after Christmas! North _still_ hasn’t updated his wards! You’d think he’d have learned after the whole ‘black sand on the globe’ thing with Pitch.”

Phil rolled his eyes and shrugged, an expression decorating his face that absolutely _screamed_ ‘I know right?’

Jack laughed again before darting over the balcony and past the globe, completely bypassing the end-of-November chaos of the workshop and landing just outside the door leading to North’s lounge. Since he’d joined they’d been holding monthly meetings there to discuss their goings-on and to, well… hang out seemed the proper word. Tooth had mentioned during Jack’s first meeting that they had always gathered annually before instead of monthly, but when Jack had insisted that they not change anything just because of him she’d just laughed and said they’d been planning the change for a year before the whole Pitch Black incident, apparently realizing that they’d drifted too far apart from each other. Jack was almost certain it was a lie, but he appreciated the thought none the less.

Jack sauntered into the room, staff hooked over his shoulder and stuffed Bunny in hand. The lounge was a quaint little room with plenty of space to seat the five guardians comfortably around the enchanted fireplace, with room to spare for yeti to bring in trays of hot chocolate or cookies (though recently the trays have had fruit too, courtesy of Tooth’s nagging). North had furnished the room with a set of three side tables and mostly red seats, made of a dark wood and some kind of soft cloth that Jack didn’t care to learn the name of. Typically North himself claimed the huge recliner in the corner, with Tooth perching on a round stool and Jack and Bunny forced to take opposite ends of the three-seater couch. There was a large pillow in the room’s center for Sandy, but the Dreamweaver seemed to prefer floating on his dreamsand.

To Jack’s surprise he found that he was the first one there. Jack almost always arrived last, and out of the four that didn’t live at the North Pole twenty-four-seven Bunny was _always_ the first to arrive to meetings like this. Jack assumed it was so that his feet would be thawed out by the time the meetings start, since North’s wards apparently never let the poor rabbit’s tunnels up _inside_ the building. Another reason North needed to look at them, really; If you’re going to be hosting meetings every month you should keep the comfort of your guests in mind. Especially if said guest was ground-bound and didn’t like cold weather. Like Bunny.

Okay, so Jack was maybe a bit biased. Sue him.

Jack smirked and jumped over the back of the couch, executing a needless flip in the process, in order to take his claimed spot. As soon as he was situated, both legs up in the seat with him and his staff propped up against the couch arm, he pulled out the needle and thread he’d retrieved from his cave and got to work on the stuffed rabbit. The poor thing was covered in small rips and tears, looking like it had been tossed in a tumbler with broken glass, or maybe even intentionally cut up. Jack immediately scowled, the thought of someone intentionally tearing up something that looked so much like Bunny no less than infuriating. If they had a problem with the guy, they should tell him in person and deal with it like rational adults. The spark of rage was short-lived, though: the rabbit had probably belonged to a child that had no idea how much it looked like the Easter Bunny, and Jack couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at a faceless mystery kid for more than a few seconds.

Still, the stuffed animal in his hands was almost shredded. It was a testament to how well it was made that it had survived this kind of damage. Jack turned the doll over in his hands as he worked on one of the larger tears, and smiled when green glass orbs appeared to look up into his own blue eyes. There almost seemed to be a spark of life there, like the toy had a soul of its own. It seemed… sad? Distressed? Jack frowned, what would a toy have to feel that distressed about while being repaired?

“Ah, Jack! You are early!”

North’s voice startled Jack out of his thoughts, nearly causing him to mess up the stitch he was on. He set the stuffed rabbit down in his lap and turned his head to look up at the large man behind him. North’s entire person seemed to be disheveled, his outfit (A simple white shirt and red overalls) had clearly been slapped on with little regard to his appearance and his hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days. Still, he wore a jolly smile, and Jack could almost taste the joy radiating off of him. December and the weeks before it were North’s busiest and most stressful time of the year, but Jack had never seen the man looking happier than he was now. Jack grinned, raising a hand to wave at him.

“Hey there North. Yeah, found myself a project that I figured would take a while, so I decided I’d bring it with me to work on so I wouldn’t end up walking in late again.”

That response got a raised eyebrow, but before North could comment his attention was pulled in by a cacophony of sound on the other side of the door. A few moments later a yeti in an apron stormed though the entryway, followed by an irate-looking Tooth Fairy. Jack did his best to hold in his laughter as Tooth continued whatever rant she was on. Something about the refreshments for the meeting if Jack had to hazard a guess. He didn’t really pay much attention to it, opting instead to turn back to his work on his stuffed Bunny while North was distracted by attempting to talk Tooth down. Already he’d managed to close up the largest tears in the material, leaving the little plush toy in a much better condition. Another half-hour or so of work and the little guy would be completely repaired.

It took a while for Jack to become aware of the staring, by which time he’d finished patching up all but the smallest tears, and with a quickly glance up he confirmed that The Sandman had finally arrived. The Dreamweaver was floating in front of Jack, looking at the toy in his hands curiously. As soon as the little golden man knew that Jack’s attention was on him, he smiled and waved, then formed a dreamsand question mark above his head and pointed at the toy. Jack smirked, holding the stuffed rabbit up to give Sandy a better view.

“Cool isn’t it? Wind found it and brought it to me on my way up here. I guess someone tossed it because it was all torn up.”

Sandy smiled for a moment as he looked at the doll, then frowned. Immediately the sand above his head formed into an egg.

Jack looked down at the rabbit and grinned shyly in response, “Noticed the resemblance too, huh?”

Sandy’s frown turned upwards into a devious smirk, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

Jack stuck his tongue out at him.

Both of them dissolved into giggling at that, and Sandy dropped the subject. Jack liked that about Sandy, the former wishing star was the sassiest person Jack knew, and loved to ‘talk,’ but he never pressed the issue on things that weren’t _really_ important. Jack was about to return to his work when the chattering in the background suddenly ground to a halt, and he looked over to find North and Tooth staring at him with the most hilarious expressions of confusion he’d ever seen.

He _really_ wished he’d remembered to get a camera before now. Maybe he could ask North to get him one for Christmas.

Jack smirked at the two Guardians’ gobsmacked expressions. “You know, that right there is how people get frogs in their throats.”

Both Guardian’s mouths immediately shut with audible clacks, and moments later their voices filled the air once more. This time, however, their chattering was directed at the winter spirit sitting on the couch.

“Jack, my boy. I did not know you knew how to sew!”

“When did you learn? Where did you learn?”

“Is this project you mentioned?”

“Is that a stuffed rabbit oh it’s adorable!”

“да, cutesy rabbit is nice. Now-”

“You know, it almost looks like-”

“Anyone know where Bunny is?” Jack’s question was louder than it needed to be, cutting through the rapid-fire questions of his friends and immediately distracting them from the stuffed rabbit in his lap, much to his relief. Off to the side, Sandy sat up from his silent hysterics to consider the question, frowning with the others when they realized that no, they had no idea where he was.

It was Tooth who voiced it first.

“I haven’t seen Bunny since the last meeting, I’ve been too busy with the post-Halloween rush. I really need to find out who the spirit of Halloween is, I’ve had too many kids losing teeth early because of that holiday.”

“Bunny has not been by pole since last meeting, tends to avoid it during last few weeks before Christmas.”

Sandy frowned, waving his hand to get attention. As soon as Jack’s eyes were on him he cycled through a sun and moon three times, then pointing behind himself.

Jack was the first to understand. “You saw him three days ago?”

Sandy nodded, then looked around with a confused expression, as if he hadn’t noticed the rabbit’s absence until just now. Sandy seemed disturbed by Bunny’s mysterious truancy, and Jack couldn’t blame him. Bunny missing a meeting was unheard of, as far as Jack was aware. It would take something major for him to miss something important like this. Tooth flitted over to her seat nervously, obviously of the same opinion.

North, however, smiled and slapped the air dismissively. “Bah, Вы волнуетесь за бесценок, Bunny will show up soon. Is probably working on silly Bunny project and forgot to say so.”

Jack frowned, “What if he’s in trouble though? It’s not like him to just blow off a meeting, he’s waaaaay too stuck up for that.”

North again dismissed the claim, “Bunny is strong warrior, and if he was in trouble he would have found a way to contact us, да? Give him at least one day before worrying about silly things.”

Jack’s frown deepened, unconvinced, but Tooth forced a smile and agreed with North. “I’m sure that if he needs our help he’ll find a way to get to reach us. Let’s postpone the meeting until tomorrow and give him time to do whatever it is he’s doing.”

Jack glared at her, and Sandy didn’t seem to be convinced either, but arguing would be pointless. If they went after him for being a little bit late and he was perfectly fine he’d probably be more than annoyed with them, so Jack sighed and waved his hand in the air. “Fine, but if he’s not here by tomorrow we’re looking for him, got it?”

Both Tooth and North gave Jack an odd look, but nodded their assent. Jack immediately shoved the needle and thread he’d been using into his pocket and lifted off the couch, grabbing his staff and tucking his stuffed Bunny into the crook of his arm. It took him only a moment to glide over to the door and exit the room, leaving its other occupants to do whatever. He didn’t really care at the moment. He quickly stopped in front of a window to check with the Wind if he had any storms to deal with, and finding nothing he made his way to the guest hall. Immediately after Jack had joined the Guardians North permanently gave him one of the rooms to stay in, stating quite clearly when Jack had almost refused that he wouldn’t take no for an answer; the other Guardians all had their own room for when they stayed, and so would Jack.

Secretly, Jack was grateful. The room was much more comfortable than his cave at Burgess Lake, and far more secure. For the past few months he’d been slowly relocating his things from the cave to here. Eventually he’d probably have to borrow a snow globe to move the chest. He’d made that himself, and it would be much easier to move the whole chest at once than it would be to bring over the things inside it one at a time. Stepping inside, Jack took in the little room with its wooden floor and pale blue walls, broken only by a glass door and windows leading to a small balcony. To his right sat a simple light brown wooden dresser, and to his left a queen bed with blue sheets alongside a small side table decorated by a single lamp and an old-fashioned analog alarm clock. Along the walls, a bit above the top of Jack’s head, a single white shelf wound its way around the room.

Jack reached into his pocket, pulling out a small wooden carving that he’d made early on in his immortal life. It was a little girl, dressed as he last saw her before his death. His sister, though he didn’t know that until a year ago. He smiled at it before setting in on the shelf above his bed and falling over, allowing his staff to rest against the side table. He was tired, and had a horrible feeling about Bunny’s sudden disappearance. He pulled the stuffed animal he’d found earlier that day up to his face, taking in its similarities to his rival.

“You’d better be alright, Cottontail, otherwise I will be very, very upset with you,” Jack pulled the toy closer and closed his eyes, “Hurry back to us, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to hold onto this chapter for a few more days, to space things out, but it was begging to be posted anyway. The whining got annoying, so I had to give in. It's okay though, things don't get *really* interesting until next chapter. >:3
> 
> Hopefully you guys are enjoying my creation so far! As always, comments and advice are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Also, what North said:  
> Вы волнуетесь за бесценок - You are worried for nothing
> 
> Google translate for the win!


	3. The Little Wooden Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Aster reflects on what he has seen so far, he discovers that he's been gripped by a magic as old as mankind.

_“Hurry back to us, please.”_

Aster lay prone under Jack’s arm for an indeterminately long time after the winter spirit had finally decided to go to bed, thinking about everything he’d witnessed that day. The way Jack had acted when the boy realized Aster was missing… did he really care that much about him? It had surprised the pooka to watch Jack insisting that they should look for him, the way the boy had been so _worried_ about the lagomorph’s well-being. Had it always been this way? Aster had just assumed Jack hated him after all the snowstorms on Easter- it was a hatred Aster fully deserved- and the young spirit had never given him a reason to think otherwise.

Except that wasn’t true, was it?

During the Easter Fiasco only a year and a half ago, Jack had used _Aster’s_ image to protect the belief of the “last light”. He could have used his powers to promote himself, or one of the other Guardians, but instead chose to save someone who had shown him almost nothing but cruelty the entire time. Thinking about it, that wasn’t the first time Jack had tried to make nice with him. When Aster had gone to pick him up at the start of the whole event, Jack had relaxed almost instantly into cheerful banter the instant he knew it was him. He'd be _comfortable_ in the pooka's presence, after what Aster had done to him in '68 he'd acted as though he felt... _safe_. And then, when they had been in the sleigh on the way to Tooth’s palace? The rabbit didn’t realize until much later, but Jack’s little ‘fall out of the sleigh’ prank had completely distracted him from his… discomfort with flying. Even after the whole thing was over Jack had always interacted with Aster more than he did the other Guardians, except maybe Sandy. How had he not noticed _any_ of this before?

A strange shiver ran down Aster’s entire form as he frowned, apparently he’d been completely blind this entire time. Jack at least had been trying to patch things up and all Aster had done was-

Wait. Hold up. Frowned?

The pooka shot up in surprise, sliding out from under Jack’s arm and immediately looking down at his hands to see… little stubby stuffed animal arms. Aster’s frown deepened; if he was still a toy, how was he moving? He shook his leg experimentally, and took a tentative step forward. Then another. Yup, everything still seemed to work, it just felt weird. And now that he could move again he had the chance to look himself over, noticing that there were bits missing all over his body.

It made sense in some twisted way, but it was all very strange. And not entirely comfortable, he'd liked  _all_ his bits and pieces thanks.

“Finally woke up I take it?”

Aster honked as he was startled yet again, falling over the side of the bed and landing on his head. Thankfully he didn’t feel the impact; being made of cloth and stuffing seemed to have its advantages in the pain department. Above him a feminine voice laughed, a tinkling sound like sleigh bells. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it most definitely _was_ confusing. Who the bloody hell _was_ that? After a few moments of struggling, Aster managed to right himself and stand up. He gazed up above the bed to the shelves there, eyes immediately locking on a small brown shape. From this distance- huge for a twelve-inch tall stuffed rabbit- he couldn’t make out what the shape was.

“Well don’t just stand there staring, Fluffy! Get up here so we can talk!”

Yeah, strange voice and small brown shape definitely belonged to each other. Aster sighed in resignation and began to look for something to climb on, immediately spotting a dresser to his right. Between his unfamiliar appendages and the distance he had to travel it took him a minute to reach the towering structure, but once there he immediately began to climb. He didn’t question how he could grip the ledges without fingers, it was just another strange occurrence among many. He’d been turned into a stuffed animal that could apparently walk, been carried by the Wind, and realized that Jack maybe didn’t actually hate him. There wasn’t much left that could surprise him, and if the strange thing on the shelf could help explain things? That’d be much appreciated, thanks.

It took longer than Aster would have liked to finally reach the top of the dresser, and waiting for him was a sculpture of carved wood that looked like a young girl from the early American colonies. Her arms were crossed and an eyebrow was raised as she gazed at him. She was certainly the same color as the brown shape he’d seen earlier, and from here it was just a short hop to the shelves but-

“You look confused, Fluffy. Never seen another toy before?”

Yup, voice was hers. Aster immediately dismissed his doubts and stared at the wooden girl in front of him, silently wishing he had some way to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming. She smirked, obviously enjoying his reaction to the situation. After a few more moments of silence, however, she frowned. “You do know how to talk, right?”

“’course I know how to talk,” Was the unthinking response, prompting Aster to immediately bring a ‘hand’ up to his mouth, his growing confusion on clear display. The wooden girl laughed at him, quickly closing the distance and grabbing his arm with both hands.

“Good, it’s been pretty boring at night since Jumble fell apart. The guy was the nicest stuffed rabbit around, but honestly the only things hold him together were love, and The Mission, and once his Mission was complete… well… you know.” The girl waved a hand in the air, as if dismissing a particularly unpleasant thought.

No, he didn’t know. How could he know? Aster wasn’t a toy, just stuck in the body of one. He had no idea how any of this was happening or what any of it _meant_. Clearly this sheila had other ideas, though. If he was going to get answers, he’d have to correct her.

“’fraid I _don’t_ know, Sheila. What’s this Mission you’re going on about?”

The wooden girl blinked, once again reminding Aster that apparently logic doesn’t apply to his current situation since she shouldn’t have eyelids at all, and donned a look of surprise. Immediately she dropped his arm and began pacing, her own arms crossed and brow furrowed in thought as she considered the stuffed rabbit before her.

“I could tell he was new from how confused he was when he saw me,” the girl mused under her breath, clearly not paying much attention to the rabbit before her anymore, and definitely not expecting to be overheard, “but to not know about The Mission? He must have something wrong with his head. Only logical explanation.”

Aster scowled at the insult, “I’ve got another explanation for you,” he cut in, causing the girl to jump at the reminder that he was there and turn her attention to him.

“Oh, really? Then please share, because there isn’t a single toy on Earth that doesn’t know about The Mission.”

“Well then it makes perfect sense that I wouldn’t know. I’m not a toy, so why would I?”

The girl’s resulting glare was nothing short of absolute annoyance. “Of _course_ you’re a toy,” she countered, “If you weren’t I wouldn’t be able to talk to you at all! We become inanimate around conscious humans and the like, in case you hadn’t noticed. And as far as I’m aware the _only_ living exception to that outside of the King's court is the Toymaker himself, and he’s only been around for a few centuries!”

Well… that explained a lot actually. Not about him being a stuffed rabbit, but about how he was walking and talking _now_ after an entire day of being unable to do so. If he'd been turned into a toy than he wouldn't be able to do anything around Jack while he was awake. There were still more questions than he had answers, but now he had someone who could, maybe, answer them. Aster took a deep breath to calm himself, then held his arms up in a placating gesture. The wooden girl frowned at him, but her glare softened slightly. Aster took the look as a go ahead to speak again. “Look,” he began, weighing his words carefully in his mind, “Let’s, for the sake of argument, say that I _am_ a toy-“

“Which you very clearly _are_ , Fluffy”

“-that doesn’t know what being a toy actually means because I was turned into one this morning. I’m a mite bit confused by this whole situation, and could really use some help figuring it all out. I’d… _really_ appreciate it if you’d explain this stuff to me. My mates are all worried sick and I’d like to get back to being myself as soon as I can.”

The wooden girl looked Aster over, brow raising as her glare switching to a scrutinizing gaze that made the rabbit’s fur tingle unpleasantly. She continued her examination for several minutes, before finally heaving a sigh and waving an arm dismissively. “Right, fine, we’ll go with that for now. I’m not sure how exactly someone could be turned into a toy, but we’ll work with it I guess.” The girl spun in place and bowed, gracing Aster with a demure smile, “Now for a proper introduction. My name is Pippa. I am the first toy of Jack Frost, my body carved from the then dormant memories of his sister into the remnant of a fallen rosewood two hundred and fifty years ago.”

Aster rubbed the back of his head, somewhat taken aback by the girl’s relatively easy acceptance of his explanation, before holding out a paw. “Nice to meet you, Pippa. My name is Aster, but everyone calls me Bunny.”

The girl raised an eyebrow, as if expecting more, but then rolled her wooden eyes and grasped his outstretched arm. “Well then, since you _clearly_ need my assistance, I suppose I can answer your questions. We’re colleagues now, after all.”

“Colleagues?”

“We belong to the same Charge,” Pippa clarified, stepping back and waving a hand in Jack’s direction, “I’d say child, but there are adult Charges as well. Those few that still hold a spark of innocent wonder in their hearts that our magic can latch onto. That, and Jack is no child. Even when I first woke as a toy two hundred and forty years ago, he was very much a mature adult. He just doesn’t like to act his age.”

Aster’s brow furrowed, something she had said didn’t sit right with him, and not just the insinuation that he was Jack’s _property_. “I thought you said you were carved two-hundred and _fifty_ years ago.”

The wooden girl smirked at him. “Sort of,” she replied, “I recall stating that my _body_ was carved two hundred and fifty years ago. It remained a simple statuette for ten years until the first time Jack played with it, and from the resulting influx of love my soul took shape. It happens occasionally, something that is not made as a toy can become one if the conditions are right and there is a Mission for it to accept.”

Aster nodded, accepting the explanation, though not fully understanding it. He’d never about heard any of this before, but it didn’t completely surprise him. He'd never in his long life suspected that toys might be more than just objects. Whatever magic it was that governed their existance was subtle, and since they became simple objects in the presence of a conscious living being it was no wonder he’d never noticed its presence before. He glanced over at Jack and smiled, the kid hadn’t been as alone as he thought. The idea was comforting, though it still sadden him that Jack’s primary company for nearly three hundred years was a little wooden girl who couldn’t talk back to him. Suddenly Aster remembered his first question, and turned his gaze back to the statuette in question. “So what’s this Mission you keep going on about? Sounds pretty important.”

The girl frowned, her face painted with incredulity, “You really don’t know,” she muttered, disbelief and confusion making way for a pity in her eyes, “Right, well, I guess I’ll just have to enlighten you then.” Pippa knelt down on the dresser top and got comfortable, apparently it would be a long story. Aster joined her, flopping down with his legs out in front of himself. Once both parties were seated, Pippa began to explain.

“We toys have been around nearly as long as children have existed,” the girl began, “Toys in the beginning were simple things, their only job to entertain. However, as the years passed the magic surrounding our existence grew more powerful, and began to change shape; we became more complex, and eventually every toy was born with a Mission engrained into their soul. Most toys still exist solely to entertain children, and that is their Mission in life: to bring happiness to a child. Other toys, however, serve a higher function, or gain one once they have been claimed by a Charge. Most of us still play with our Charges, being played with is what makes us toys after all, but our missions are more complex. Mine, for example, has always been to help Jack connect with his center by reminding him of the Joy in the world. Jumble, the stuffed rabbit Jack made in ’69, had an even more important mission. It was his job to guide Jack through his darkest hour. To be his confidant when there was no one else to listen. There are specific names for toys like us, but they’re not really important. Only the Toy King and those in his court use those titles anyways.”

Aster nodded, taking in the information. It was a lot to take in, really. A Toy king, ‘The Mission,’ how had him and the other Guardians not known about this? Every toy on the planet had apparently been helping them to protect children since the dawn of man, since before the Man in the Moon had even thought to bring the Guardians together, and they had been totally clueless. It was probably for the best though, if the Guardians didn’t know about it, then Pitch Black probably didn’t either.

A question lanced through Aster’s mind with a sudden ferocity that would have knocked him off his feet had he been standing. What about Jumble, the rabbit Jack made after ’68 for whatever reason? He was gone now, obviously, but why? Surely if toys could walk around and talk to each other, there was more to the story than just ‘he fell apart,’ right? Aster voiced his confusion, and Pippa’s eyes widened.

The little wooden girl glanced away, the wood under her eyes becoming even darker in an imitation of tears, “Toys are held together by three things: our bodies, the love of our charge that serves as our lifeblood, and the drive to fulfill The Mission in our soul. So long as two of those things remain strong, a toy can survive almost anything. Jumble had a weak body, but Jack loved him fiercely and his drive to fulfill his Mission was all the more powerful for it. When Jack finally joined the Guardians, he found his family and so had survived the darkest part of his life. Jumble’s mission was over the moment that happened, and so the next time his stitches failed, there was nothing left to hold him together.”

The little wooden girl smiled up at Aster once more, the carved lines of her face gentled by the light in her eyes. “I don’t know how you came to be a toy, Aster, but since you _are_ one now I’m sure there is a Mission in your soul as well. Should you discover what it is, maybe it will help you recover your true form.”

And so far he’d been more than lucky; immediately picked up by the one Guardian who happened to have another toy on his person that could explain things after… whatever it was that happened. Aster frowned at the hole in his memory, but shook his head and moved on.

“Just how is it that you know all this if you’ve been with Jack all these years?”

Pippa smirked at him, a familiar smirk that she’d clearly adopted from a certain Spirit of Winter. Apparently she was expecting this question and had an answer at the ready, but as her mouth opened to answer a tingling sensation ran all over Aster’s body and the girl shifted in alarm. Immediately the girl stood and jumped over to the shelf, making her way back to where she had been before. “We spoke for longer than I thought. Jack is waking,” she called back to him, “You’d best make your way over to the bed before he’s fully conscious!”

Aster nodded dumbly, jumping off the dresser without thinking and then walking back to where he had fallen from the bed. This 'Mission' that seemed to be so important to the toys of the world sounded almost like the Guardians and their centers. Flopping down on the floor, Aster realized that he had a lot to think about.

Who knows, maybe he did have a Mission of his own. If Pippa was right, it could be the key to returning to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the conversation here wasn't always going to go like this, but the characters decided that they wanted to say what they wanted to say. Happens I guess.
> 
> Anyways, hopefully this is interesting enough for yah. You didn't think that I'd turn Bunny into a toy and then have all his chapters just be him making observations, did you? That'd be boring, guys. Seriously. :P
> 
> In other news, I think I'm going to try to keep updates for this going on Wednesdays from now on. Try being the operative word. Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always comments and advice are awesome and I love them. :3


	4. Meeting Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after, and Bunny is still missing. The guardians meet up to discuss their next course of action, and discover an interesting secret about their most recent addition.
> 
> To his credit, Jack wasn't aware of it either.

_The whole world was white around him; an endless expanse of tree-checkered ice and snow that blocked out all else. The land around him sleeping the oh-so-welcoming sleep of oblivion. This was it, everything he’d worked towards for the past week would finally bear fruit. His suffering would come to an end. That…. It was what he wanted, of that he was… absolutely certain. He could finally put an end to the soul crushing aloneness. He’d finally be free, and this killing child of Winter would be the key to his cage. There was nothing that could stop him now; no one that would try._

_“Oi!”_

_What was that?_

_“Stop that you idiot!”_

_Why would he stop? He was finally getting what he wanted! Why were they even here?_

_“You’re gonna hurt yourself!”_

_Well… Yeah. Sorta the point, buddy. Who was that anyway?_

_Suddenly the world was ripped out from under him, fire shot through his face and a rough pressure materialized against his back and chest. In front of him white had made way to grey, broken only by the most beautiful shade of green he had ever seen. He directed his shocked gaze into that green, taking in the color, the anger, the… something else that was there. He couldn’t speak, could barely breath when moments later he identified the elusive element in those eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it no matter how much he wanted to. It had to be a trick; that could_ not _be disappointment cradled by that angry green._

_You could only be disappointed if you actually cared._

Jack woke with a start, throwing the blanket off of himself as though it were fire itself and breathing heavily. It took a while to realize where he was: his room at the pole. Why was he here again?

Oh right, the meeting. Bunny was missing. Jack instinctively reached to his side, but his hand wrapped around air instead of the stuffed rabbit he had been expecting. Immediately the spirit was a whirl of activity, reaching around his place of rest and searching in panic for the possible source of comfort. It was several heart pounding moments later that Jack looked down and spotted the toy laying innocuously on the floor beside the bed. Immediately Jack snatched the rabbit up and pulled it close, hugging the object fiercely.

“There you are, little Bunny,” Jack’s voice was laced with sleep, his mind still not caught up with his body, “Was afraid you’d hopped off. Silly, huh?”

The boy leaned back against the headboard, looking down at the stuffed rabbit in his arms and thinking about his dream; A romanticized version of real events. Jack opened his mouth to speak, to tell his dream to the toy in his arms, but stopped. It had been over a year now since he’d last had someone- something to tell about his dreams, and while he knew a toy would never share his secrets, something gave him pause. He’d always told Jumble about his dreams before and the telling, even if to an inanimate object, helped him deal with the feelings they brought no matter what those feelings were. Maybe it was the fact that his little Bunny looked so much like the real deal that made him hesitate. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t dreamed of that day in such a long time. Maybe it was because Bunny could still be missing and he should be focusing on that instead of himself.

Whatever. Secrets shared with stuffed animals were always safe in their hands.

“I had a dream, you know,” Jack began, wetting his lips and resting his chin upon the head of the toy in his arms, “A memory, really. A long time ago I did something I’m not proud of, nearly hurt myself.” Jack sniffled and closed his eyes, remembering again beautiful eyes that were so full of anger and… _disappointment_ , “But someone stopped me, saved my life when I didn’t think there was anyone that would.

“I’ll never forget that; that no matter how much he may have hated me then he still cared about my life. About me. I got some rough treatment, sure, but he didn't let me die. It was the first time _anyone_ ever really showed me that they actually cared. That there was something to… to _hope_ for. That someone truly _wanted_ me to exist. I think that I-”

Jack stopped, even though his only audience was a stuffed toy he found that couldn’t say the words. The boy gave his stuffed rabbit another squeeze and stood up, setting the toy down on his bed for the moment. There wasn’t any more time to spend moping about memories and things that could never happen, he had a frie- colleague to find. While it was possible that North had been right and that Bunny would be upstairs in the lounge waiting for everyone, Jack had a feeling deep in his gut that the Guardian of Hope was in trouble somewhere and needed help.

It took only a few moments for Jack to get ready to go, the carving of his sister dropped into his pocket with the needle and thread he’d brought the day before and the stuffed rabbit taking up residence in the loose collar of his hoodie, being too large for the pocket. Staff in hand and personal possessions in order, the boy made his way through the guest hall and towards the globe room.

The upstairs of the workshop was absolute chaos, both yeti and elves running about like headless chickens as North stood center-stage giving directions. The man was so preoccupied with his work that Jack was able to get all the way up to him and start waving his staff around before the Cossack noticed his presence. Even then, North gave only a grunt of recognition and waved one hand in the direction of the meeting hall, completely opposite the direction of the lounge, as he reached for a clipboard a yeti was holding out for him with the other. The room was primarily used when meetings involved non-guardians, or matters of a particularly serious nature. Jack didn’t need to guess at which reason had prompted the change in location for their meeting, he’d known it since yesterday.

“Bunny is not here, meeting has been moved,” North’s curt explanation only served to further confirm what Jack was already aware of, “Will join you in a few minutes, have much paperwork to deal with, lists to check, и так далее и тому подобное.”

Jack nodded his assent even as he began to move, floating over the heads of the crowd below him in order to avoid accidentally freezing an elf in the middle of North’s crunch time. Things couldn’t have been timed worse for St. Nicholas, but at the very least they had time to find Bunny before Easter preparations were set to begin in early February. Jack’s eyes darkened- the only reflection of the rapidly building anger that seethed below the normally jovial face of winter. Whoever it was that had stopped Bunny from coming to them was going to pay dearly for their transgression. The winter season had been feared by the world since ancient times, and for a very good reason: pissing it off generally ended with someone dying. Painfully.

Fortunately for the world Jack Frost was born to be the Spirit of Winter, and Jack Frost was impossibly difficult to legitimately piss off under normal circumstances. (Probably had something to do with his Center.)

Unfortunately for whoever had presumably hurt Bunny, said Spirit of Winter very much _appreciated_ the Easter Kangaroo’s presence... even if he didn’t show it very well.

Jack was in the middle of brooding over possible ways to deal with the theoretical kidnapper, completely ignorant of the room around him, when a tap on his shoulder drew his attention. Immediately Jack’s head snapped around, staff already lifting, and locked his eyes on a startled Tooth Fairy. Tooth quickly regained her composure, smoothing down a few feathers and directing her violet gaze into Jack’s glare. The corners of her mouth turned down, and her brow creased with worry. Jack relaxed a bit, and was about to turn back to his brooding when she finally spoke up.

“Are you alright, Jack? You seem… distant.”

Really? That’s what she was going with? Wasn’t that conversation starter a bit overused? Jack snorted and found his way to his chair near the head of the long mahogany table that served as the Meeting Hall’s centerpiece, Tooth following close behind with quiet steps. Jack didn’t pay much attention to the fact that she wasn’t flying about as she normally did, though in truth he probably should have. That in and of itself should have warned him to not overstep his bounds.

“Oh yeah. Sure. I’m totally fine Tooth,” Jack’s voice was thick with sarcasm as he began his rant, “I mean, what possible reason would _I_ have to be angry that someone’s probably hurt one of my friends? No, not one reason I can-“

“Jackson,” Toothiana’s voice cut through Jack’s budding rant like a finely honed blade, prematurely killing the speech with its frigid tone.

Oh. Right. He forgot. Best to _not_ direct unfounded rage at scary powerful fairy queen. Understanding and supportive Tooth may be, but she was still an ancient queen that could be scary as hell without even _trying_. Immediately Jack wilted, falling limp in his seat and turning his eyes helplessly to the section of table directly in front of him. His hand found its way to the stuffed rabbit sticking out of his hoodie, stroking one of the ears in an unconscious effort to calm himself. Off to his side he heard Tooth shift, and moments later a deceptively delicate hand alighted on his shoulder.

“You know, Jack, that’s the first time you’ve called Bunny your friend without correcting yourself,” Tooth’s voice was full of strained amusement as she attempted to shift the conversation to a slightly less stressful topic, “Did you two finally sit down and talk? You know, like the rational adults you are?”

Jack made a face at his accidentally used term and turned his eyes even farther downward. Just talking to Bunny certainly _sounded_ nice, but it wasn’t going to happen. Any and every conversation they’d ever attempted always devolved into an argument. Most had been relatively civil, the two of them baring their metaphorical teeth and circling each other like a pair of wolves about to go at it, but some of their arguments turned to full-blown fights. Neither party ever actually attacked the other (the closest either had ever come to that was after Bunny had been walked through during the Easter Fiasco), but both knew exactly what words hurt the other most. While those fights had vastly reduced in frequency after Jack became a Guardian, the two still avoided talking to each other when they could.

Better to just not chance a fight ruining what little civility they’d built up already.

Jack, absorbed in his thoughts, almost forgot about Tooth until she mock coughed to get his attention. Jack flinched, his face turned a very pale, almost unnoticeable shade of pink at his own inattention, but he otherwise remained as he was.

“I’m taking that silence as a no,” Tooth removed her hand and fluttered over the table to her own seat opposite to Jack, sitting down in the specially carved open-back chair and glaring across at the younger Guardian. “You two can’t keep this up, Jack. You’ll only wind up hurting each other.”

Jack didn’t answer. He had nothing to say to that.

Tooth, however, pressed on. “Promise me,” she said, the authority in her voice forcing Jack’s eyes to her face, “That when we find Bunny you’ll talk to him as soon as you can. _Actually_ talk, not just start an argument for the sake of arguing.”

Jack frowned. It wasn’t that easy, Jack knew that from experience, and he said as much. “It’s not that easy, Tooth. It doesn’t matter if I want to be friends when Bunny hates me.”

At this Tooth paused, but before she could raise whatever objection she was thinking of, the door burst open to reveal a very agitated Santa Claus, followed closely by Sandy. The little golden man was attempting to calm North, but it’s somewhat difficult to do when you can’t actually speak.

Or don’t speak. Jack had never really asked Sandy if speaking was actually a thing he could do or not. Either way, the Sandman’s attempts were ineffective at quelling North’s apparent agitation. Jack was about to ask what had happened when North volunteered the answer.

“Эльфы И их острые руководители how did they get _inside_ of conveyor belt?”

Uh… what? Jack sat up at that strange question; his Russian was rusty, but he heard something about elves? He shared a confused glance with Tooth and decided that maybe they should leave well enough alone for once. There were more important things to talk about, and North only had so much time with Christmas only twenty-seven days away. Still, he did have one question.

“Since when do you have conveyor belts in the workshop?”

North shot him an agitated look, but mercifully seemed to reign in his temper as he answered. “In packaging. There is assembly line for wrapping presents and delivering them to the correct section of shipping room.”

“Shipping room?”

“You think I take presents with me on sleigh? There are too many!”

Right, and had he taken up North’s offer to go with him on his rounds last year he’d probably know that. Well, the more you know.

“Enough of my complaining. You can ask about shipping later; we have comrade to find, да?”

North and Sandy made their way around the table to their seats, each sparing a less-than-inconspicuous glance at the empty chair between North and Tooth’s seats. Really, they didn’t have to pretend they weren’t worried. Jack certainly wasn’t, and from the way Tooth was fidgeting in her seat it was clear that she was just as worried as Jack. Well, maybe a little less considering- focus, Jack.

“So how do we do this?” he asked, quickly redirecting his thoughts to a more constructive avenue, “I mean, I doubt a Guardian going missing is something that happens regularly.”

North heaved a sigh, “да, is not something we have ever had to do. Normally I would suggest locator spell, but that requires time to set up. Not to mention something that belongs to the person you are attempting to locate.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, “Why is one of his belongings a problem? Can’t we just zip over to the Warren and nab something of Bunny’s? I mean, we need to check to see if he’s there before we do anything anyways, right?”

This time it was Tooth who spoke up, “Normally, yes. But it’s impossible to get into the Warren without Bunny either being there to let you in or giving you a key. That’s the reason Pitch’s nightmares attacked the tunnels instead of the Warren itself during his attempted coup. They couldn’t get in, even with the doors open.”

That… no, that couldn’t be right; Jack visited the Warren all the time without Bunny letting him in! If what Tooth was saying was true… no, that couldn’t be it. “What about North’s snow globes? I mean, he _did_ try to use the sleigh to go there before Bunny interrupted with his tunnel.”

North glanced away and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at that. “May have been… Что такое слово… overzealous?” Jack leveled a glare at the man, prompting him to continue, “Snow globes would send us out _near_ Warren, but its wards keep them from opening portals inside. Bunny would still have had to open door for us.”

“You know maybe if your wards let Bunny open his tunnels in the workshop that wouldn’t be an issue.” Was Jack’s muttered reply.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Jack smirked, he’d been waiting for his chance to toss out his opinion on North’s wards. Maybe now that he’d done so he’d give the man a chance to update them before he pulled a break-in. North, for his part, looked confused. As did Tooth, though Sandy was smiling and acting _far_ too innocent to not know why Jack was so interested in said subject. Not that Jack cared, Sandy tended to pick up on things like that. Thankfully, he also had a tendency to stay out of it. Most of the time.

Jack still needed to get back at him for locking him in a warded room with Bunny. They could do nothing to escape, and so were forced to sit around and wait for help. They’d tried to talk as well, but the resulting argument from _that_ attempted chat nearly turned physical, and not in the pleasant way. Apologetic faces do _not_ make up for that, no matter how hard Sandy tried. At least he’d given Jack space on the whole Bunny crush issue after that.

Bunny. Missing. Stop stalling, Jack.

“Ah,” Jack rubbed the back of his head as he thought of how to proceed. Admitting that he could get into the Warren after what he’d just been told would likely cause some interesting reactions, but at the same time it was the fastest way to find Bunny. Didn’t seem like he had much of a choice… now how to tell the others? “So,” Jack began, clearly hesitant, “Don’t put that Locator spell idea on hold just yet.”

 _That_ drew some raised eyebrows. Except from Sandy, who was far too amused and very obviously knew _exactly_ where Jack was going with this. North was the one to speak up, though. “Why, do you have something of Bunny’s?”

Jack smiled sheepishly, glancing down at an increasingly interesting spot on the table, “No… but I can probably nab something when I go check the Warren.”

Tooth clued in almost instantly, expression shifting from shock, to confusion, and back to shock before finally settling on amused after a glance at Sandy. Damn it, he’d _liked_ keeping that particular bit of information a secret, thanks. North, however, took a bit longer. He stared blankly at Jack for about three seconds before his expression shifted to confusion. “You can get into Warren?”

“There’s a reason I thought that you guys would be able to get in, you know.”

As North took his sweet time processing the new development, Jack stood up and stretched. He’d need to leave now if he was going to drop by the Warren, there was only so much time in the day and he needed to check in on a weather system just north of New Orleans. “I’m off,” he stated, leaping to the nearest window to open it, “go ahead and grab whatever you need for that locator spell, if Bunny’s not in the Warren I’ll bring something of his back with me.”

Jack gave no time for replies, now that he knew where he was going he had a schedule to keep. A quick jaunt around the northern hemisphere, and then it was off to the Warren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> и так далее и тому подобное - and so on and so forth  
> Эльфы И их острые руководители - Elves and their pointy heads  
> Что такое слово - What is the word
> 
>  
> 
> My apologies for this being so late! the Guardians just did NOT want to gather for this meeting, and the difficulty I had getting them to move forward probably shows. Hopefully everything's still decent though.
> 
> Also, in case you were wondering: Sandy timed his little stunt rather poorly on Bunny's side, totally not his fault things ended badly. Unforeseen and forever mysterious circumstances were at play. Much to a certain spirit's dismay.
> 
> Anyway, comments are appreciated. Especially the helpful kind. :3


	5. Observation/Empathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aster is once again forced into the role of observer by his new form as Jack makes his way to the Warren to begin his search.

The whirlwind of emotions that began to bombard Aster after Jack woke up was something the pooka had never expected. Long ago he’d learned to control the empathic powers that came with being one of his kind, as many cultures considered it rude to pry into their emotions. To lose control over them so suddenly was no less than shocking. He wondered at first why the change had only happened now instead of when Jack had first picked him up, but soon he found himself unable to think under the overwhelming floods of negative feelings that seethed beneath the young man’s normally jovial smile.

Perhaps if he had thought to glance at Jack’s emotions before, he wouldn’t be so surprised that such a bright smile could be a facade. It made him wonder, briefly, what a true smile would look like from the Spirit of Winter. Aster immediately filed the thought as odd, and shoved it aside in favor of not drowning under the directionless anger and depression.

Tooth’s intervention, at first, was quite the welcome relief. She managed to sooth Jack’s emotions into something more manageable, enough that Aster was able to dampen the connection slightly. He couldn’t stop the empathic link completely, for reasons he couldn’t begin to fathom, but it no longer made him feel like he was drowning when Jack’s depression tried to slam into him. Finally able to focus on the world around him, Aster turned his attention to the conversation between Tooth and Jack… and immediately felt guilty. Jack’s words only further convinced him that the spirit had been trying desperately to bridge the gap between them, and Aster had been completely oblivious.

Speaking of oblivious, North took his cue and marched in, ranting about elves and pointed heads and conveyor belts. Really, he should know better than to question how those little demons get into trouble. Aster himself would never let such reckless creatures hang around his Warren, they were a health and safety hazard. Aster allowed his vision to wander around while the other Guardians got settled, taking in the simple, largely unfurnished room with its single table and large windows. At the very least they were taking his absence seriously if they’d moved the meeting here after only one day. He’d honestly expected them to wait a few more days at least before becoming so worried as to organize the equivalent of a war room.

Almost immediately the conversation switched over to finding Aster, and just as the pooka suspected North immediately brought up some magical means of doing so. It was perfect really, faulty explanations of his wards aside. Jack would go to the Warren and-

Jack didn’t know about the key.

Well, that was awkward.

Aster had always thought that Jack hadn’t come to find him after... everything that happened because he was afraid of him. It had made sense at the time. Still did. But if Jack hadn’t known he had a key at all… well, thinking about everything Jack had said, about the dream the young man told him about not an hour ago, maybe that was the real reason he’d not used the key until becoming a Guardian? Would Jack have sought him out had he known he could? How had he not realized he had a key, when Aster had put it in the place it was most likely to be noticed when he'd unintentionally created it?

Distracted by his musings, Aster didn’t realize that he was airborne until Jack began to manipulate the storm below. The spirit’s unwitting audience watched the show of power, entranced by the motion of the otherwise drab clouds as they flowed into place. From up here they looked like hundreds of sheep pressed together, with Jack as their shepherd. Occasionally a cloud would turn darker, more dangerous, and Jack would pull at it with his crook to separate it from the rest of his herd. The dark clouds, nearly black in color, were pulled above the others to dissipate in the lower pressure. Once those angry black clouds had expanded and returned to a cheerless grey, Jack would do… something with his magic and scatter them to the edges of his cloud herd. And slowly, the grey of storm clouds became brighter, less dull.

Jack stayed at his task for nearly an hour, spreading the clouds out into a wide blanket and shaping what could have been a devastating blizzard in the New Orleans area into what would likely be a glorious snow day for children all across the state of Louisiana. Despite not being in a position to see the young man’s face Aster knew from the brief surge of Joy, a showing of Jack’s center which nearly overwhelmed Aster despite the barriers he had previously erected between himself and Jack’s emotions, that the young man was smiling down at his creation with pride.

Certainly Aster had never thought so before, but seeing Jack in action proved to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Spirit of Winter knew just as much about hard work and deadlines as he did about snowballs and fun times.

Now that the storm had been cleared up, Aster expected Jack to move along. Instead, the spirit floated in the air for several minutes watching the clouds below. Looking down, Aster couldn’t tell what it was that Jack was watching. Suddenly, however, the body behind him shifted and Jack let out a piercing whistle. Almost immediately snow began to coalesce into several small, round shapes in front of them. The shapes shivered and shook, tossing off excess powder to reveal… rabbits?

No, not rabbits, though they looked like them. They were shaped like snowshoe hares, with ears made from green nandina leaves and red berries of the same plant serving as their eyes. Each had the tiniest bit of coal for a nose, and pine needles for whiskers. It was clear from the way that they had appeared, and from how they now watched Jack as he gave them silent instructions, that these snow hares were winter sprites. After a few moments the sprites turned and bounded across the air towards the storm Jack had just finished fashioning, and Aster briefly wondered what it was Jack called them to do. Maybe Jack had sent them to maintain the storm? Nature was unpredictable at times, so that seemed the most likely explanation.

Really, it didn’t matter so much. Aster would stick to plants and chocolate and machines, how the weather worked didn't concern him.

The trip to Easter Island afterward, where one of the main entrances to the Warren was situated, was short and uneventful. Jack landed on the same shore that, centuries ago, Aster remembered first meeting North and Katherine. The thought of Mother Goose would have brought a smile to Aster’s face, if he had been able to smile at that moment. He hadn’t seen her in a full decade, and wondered how she was doing. A visit to Santoff Claussen was long overdue, really. When this whole mess was finally settled Aster would need to find time to go. He’d invite Jack and introduce him to Katherine, Ombric and the children. Maybe that would convince Jack that he didn’t hate him.

A tapping sound drew Aster’s attention back to the world around him. Jack was lifting and dropping his staff at regular intervals as he walked, examining the ground critically each time the sound of wood striking stone rang out. After only a minute of searching, Jack smirked and knelt down, tapping the crook of his staff against stone. Immediately the ground opened up to a tunnel. A special one that led to the Warren and nowhere else.

Apparently Jack was still completely unaware that he could open that tunnel from anywhere with his staff. How such a powerful spirit had remained oblivious for over forty years to the fact that someone had tampered with their primary conduit was beyond Aster, but he wasn’t about to complain. Something like that could be considered exceptionally rude, and piled on top of everything else Aster had done that Easter...

It was a miracle that Jack even tolerated him, really, Let alone actually wanted to be his friend. A miracle of forgiveness that, quite frankly, Aster didn't' deserve.

As they walked, Aster could feel the unease creeping through Jack’s psyche, leaking in through the still present empathic connection. Aster couldn’t blame him, there was a wrongness in the air. The Warren was probably reacting to its master’s absence, if he had to hazard a guess. His magical core was still adjusting to this strange form, and it was entirely likely that his connection to the Earth had been severed. Thinking on it, those adjustments were probably the reason his empathic abilities were acting up as well, though why his senses had centered themselves on Jack he still didn’t know.

It took Jack no small amount of time to reach the tunnel’s end and exit into the Warren, even with the magic within the tunnels speeding him along, and upon arrival the boy sucked in a breath. The Warren was… dull. It was still beautiful, everything still lived and spring still reigned over the domain of its spirit, but everything seemed weak. The air stood dead, the trees that dotted the area around them seemed to droop, and the vibrancy had drained from the plants. As he assessed the scene before him Aster was acutely aware of how taken aback Jack seemed. The boy stood shock still, taking shaky breaths as he presumably took in the state of Aster’s home. After a few moments, Aster became aware of a hand gripping his ear in a desperate bid for comfort.

Clearly, Jack didn’t expect to find the Easter Bunny here. Just as clearly, for Aster could feel it deep within his being, he was _hoping_ beyond measure that he would. The hope was weak, though, and slowly dying just from looking at the bitter beauty before them.

Then Jack was moving, heading towards Aster’s gardens first from what the rabbit could tell. He navigated through the Warren expertly, knowing precisely which tunnels to use to move from one open-air section to the next, and where to turn once inside in order to reach his destination. It was interesting to witness, and Aster wondered how often Jack had visited the Warren since becoming a Guardian to know his home so well. He had only ever _seen_ Jack in the Warren once; he had woken from his two week, post-Easter nap only a few months ago and, to his surprise, found Jack asleep under a tree in the back corner of the Warren. It had been an amusing sight, really, seeing Jack curled up in the grass and surrounded by curious eggs. A sentinel had even set itself down nearby to observe, its expression somehow cheerful despite the neutral face it presented. Aster had found himself unable to wake the boy, taken in by the peaceful expression he wore in slumber. He had left Jack in the care of his eggs and gone to work on his gardens.

He had returned later, carrying with him fruit. A peace offering in case Jack was still there. He needn’t have bothered, for the Spirit of Winter was long gone from his Warren by that time. Aster treasured that memory, though, and the hope of one day being Jack’s friend that it gave him. At the time, Aster had thought that maybe if Jack liked the Warren, he could move past his hate for its master. Aster knew now, of course, that Jack didn’t hate him at all. After everything he’d seen of Jack the past day and a half, he could never make that mistake again. There was so much _more_ to Jack than Aster had ever thought there could be. Even now, knowing that he wouldn’t find anything, Jack was searching through the warren almost desperately, hoping to prove himself wrong.

When the gardens yielded no answers, Jack moved to the egg fields, and then the small forest Aster kept. When all other possibilities had been exhausted, Jack turned towards the one place he had obviously been avoiding: Aster’s living space. His ‘cottage.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, and a bit late, but I think I'm okay with this for the most part. I'll likely elaborate on the Warren a bit more next chapter, when the speaker is able to move around and examine things more closely.
> 
> Anyways, there's Bunny's view of things. I debated about giving Jack two chapters in a row, but then I realized that I wanted to know Bunny's thoughts on Jack actually, you know, doing his Job. Plus other things. So yeah, here you are.


	6. The Warren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has arrived at the Warren, and begins his search for Bunny... or at least something that belongs to him.

Jack had sucked in a breath upon seeing the Warren. Without Bunny it had… decayed seemed the proper word, though Jack only noticed because of how often he had visited under the assumption of sneaking in. That he’d had a key- That Bunny had _given_ him a key was, well, confusing. Jack’s grip on his staff tightened as he walked through the tunnels, lit dimly by glowing mushrooms, that provided passage from one area of the warren to the next, shoving the epiphany to the back of his mind in favor of navigating the Warren. Occasionally after he had exited a tunnel into one of the main caverns he would come across some landmark and stop to gawk at how… drained it looked. Trees were losing leaves, their branches drooping under some non-existent weight; Rocks that had once been covered in moss now held only small nests of green; Plants in the garden held only the smallest of fruit, those that would normally be in bloom showing no signs of opening their petals; the sentinels, always alert in the past, slept; And the coloring river, Jack had almost cried out at the sight, had turned eggshell white.

The Warren was still beautiful, still alive, but it _felt_ dead.

All the while, through each find that made Jack’s heart want to beat just long enough to stop again, he searched for the Warren’s master. Jack knew that Bunny wasn’t here, he would never let his home get into such a state, but if he didn’t _hope_ to be proven wrong then what did he have? So he searched through the gardens, peeking into garden sheds and even upturning rocks in case there might be some hidden pathway. When the gardens turned up as empty as they looked, Jack moved to the fields. He resolutely ignored how the egg plants had all stopped growing entirely, instead checking behind every rock and tree for the missing Guardian. When again he found nothing, Jack moved to the forests where Bunny had kept every tree that had ever existed, and to the lake that fed every river in the rabbit’s home. He even looked inside the egg-lined cave system that he had always avoided in case Bunny decided to visit the strange, light-bearing egg hidden at the end.

Eventually there were no more places to search through, save one.

Jack approached the large oaken door he had so often passed by in the past, its ornate oval bulk hanging from a simple frame in the side of a hill. Jack had likened it to a hobbit hole the first time he had seen the exterior of Bunny’s cottage. He had seen through egg-shaped windows some of what was inside; enough to expect something similar to the house he had lived in as a human. Never had Jack thought of entering, however. The Warren was Bunny’s home, yes, but it was also a place of work. This cottage, however, was an entirely personal space. While he had always wondered what might lie within, Jack had never once had the urge to invade the rabbit’s private space to satisfy that curiosity. He wanted to build trust with Bunny, not break it down by breaking into his house.

To that end, Jack knocked first. Tapping the end of his staff against the wooden entryway three times. The sound of wood against wood rang out into the Warren, loud enough that Jack had no doubt that Bunny could hear it no matter where he was. Jack waited a moment after that, his staff still hovering over the door, before calling out Bunny’s name and knocking again. When again there was no answer, Jack braced himself and reached out his hand.

As his fingers wrapped around the egg-shaped silver doorknob, Jack’s building nerves finally got the better of him. A laugh escaped Jack’s throat, strained and out of place in the silence of the Warren. “You know Bunny,” he said through nervous chuckles, directing his commentary towards the stuffed rabbit in his hoodie, “I’d kind of hoped the first time I saw your house would be after you’d invited me in. You know, for tea or something.” Jack turned the knob, and the door swung open. Almost immediately the ceiling lit up with patches of some kind of glowing flower that Jack had never seen before. “Nice lighting, cottontail.”

The inside of the home was larger than what Jack had expected, though he should have known better than to think a house built into a hill as big as this one would be small. Before him was a simple hall. Of the ovular doorways Jack could see only one had an accompanying door, and there was no decoration save for the egg-laden wood trim along the bottom of the thick looking walls. Jack wasn’t sure what the walls themselves consisted of; it looked like wood, but when he touched it the material felt almost like earth. It was confusing, and Jack mumbled something under his breath about how the wall should make up its mind already about what it was. When Jack came to the first doorway, he peeked around the frame in order to get a glimpse of what was inside.

He needn’t have bothered with trying to be stealthy, the small kitchen was devoid of life. Jack glanced around, still wary of walking around a person’s house un-invited, before stepping into the room to look around. The room was sparse and simple, obviously built with only the function in mind. In the middle of the room was a singular table, with a pair of chairs that didn’t look like they had ever been sat in. Counters lined the walls where there wasn’t a refrigerator, stove or other large appliance, holding an arrangement of smaller, egg-themed appliances from toaster to coffee machine. Above the countertop were shelves and cabinets that probably contained all manner of herbs and spices for cooking. Nothing had wires, but Jack suspected that they probably ran on magic or something else. It didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things how Bunny’s kitchen worked, he figured, so long as it did.

The room was relatively tidy, serviceable, and had nothing to do with Jack’s current task. With a sigh, Jack moved back into the hall and approached the next room. Approaching this one just as he had the kitchen, Jack found it to be a sitting room over twice the size of the kitchen. Completely full bookshelves lined two of the walls, containing all manner of literature both fiction and non-fiction. The third wall had another doorway, which looked to lead back into the hallway. The room, again, was sparse; furnished only with a few lamp-like plants growing down from the ceiling and a mix-and-match set of furniture consisting entirely of chairs and the occasional side-table. Jack took a moment to examine the books, and soon found himself laughing quietly. The selection looked almost like something he would have put together, and there was very little in the way of organization. He couldn’t help commenting about his own wish for a library as he walked back into the hall.

The only room remaining before the hallway split out to either side was one with an actual door, and after a moment’s hesitation Jack opened it to reveal… a broom closet. Jack huffed his annoyance and shut the door without bothering to look at what was inside. Looking down either hall, Jack decided to go down the much shorter left hallway first. Skipping past the first doorway, as it lead into the sitting room he had already been in, Jack found that the second and fourth openings both lead into the same room. It was a studio of sorts, Easels set up in front of chairs, with each holding an empty canvas or half-finished painting. The walls that didn’t have shelves of paint and brushes were lined with completed works, causing Jack to stop and marvel at the artistry they presented. There were summer, spring, and fall scenes primarily, with very few winter-themed paintings to speak of. There were fields, forests, bridges and ruins. Portraits of other spirits, mostly the Guardians, and fanciful images of some place Jack didn’t think could exist. Almost every kind of painting Jack could imagine save the abstract could be found within the room. “I bet the only reason there’s no abstracts,” he mused aloud, “Is because you get enough of those at Easter, right Bunny?”

Of course, the little stuffed substitute didn’t answer.

Jack found his favorite painting hidden away behind a table of paints, having spotted the corner of the frame just as he was about to leave the room. It was a portrait of Bunny himself, though smaller and younger looking, sitting happily next to two others like him on a hill in that place Jack had never seen before. It was beautiful. Leagues better than the others, painted with nothing but the utmost respect and love, and Jack wondered why it had been hidden. He sat there for a while longer, carefully tracing the face of one of the larger rabbits that looked to be female. Something about the picture was… sad, almost heartbreaking. It took a moment of thought before it occurred to Jack that he had never seen another like Bunny before.

Was he the only one left?

Almost immediately Jack sucked in a breath and tucked the picture back into its niche behind the table, taking extra care not to damage it. He had better move on, he decided. There was still the rest of the house to search. The remaining room across the hall had an actual door, and, Jack decided after opening it, for good reason. He had stepped into a bathroom. Just like the other rooms it contained the necessities only, with a bathtub, sink, towel rack and, strangely, a toilet. All Egg-shaped. “You know, ‘roo, I get that you’re the Easter Bunny and all… but _,”_ Jack indicated the eggs within the room, as if Bunny was there watching him, “Don’t you think that it’s getting a bit obsessive?”

Again, the stuffed rabbit playing the part of Bunny remained silent.

Jack shook his head, briefly wondering why a spirit would need a toilet, before stepping back out of the room and making his way to the other end of the hall. The first room he came across in the right hallway appeared to be something like a laundry room, or maybe just a linen closet, Jack wasn’t entirely sure. He didn’t linger on the cloth-filled room and moved on to the next, large opening. The room beyond was, without question, a living room. It was remarkably similar to North’s lounge, with a similar furniture set positioned around a fireplace that looked to be entirely for decoration. It was not, however, the furnishings that drew Jack’s attention. Rather, it was the single wall of paintings. There were very few in this room, especially compared to the studio area, but these works were above and beyond everything Jack had seen so far save the painting Bunny had hidden behind the table.

There were five painting in total. The first was a picture of North, much younger looking than Jack had ever seen the man. He held blades at the ready, and at his side was a young girl and a man that _looked_ like he could be as old as time itself. Around them shadows were cowering, driven back by the three companion’s light. The next painting was one that depicted that place Jack had never seen. It was simple, showing only a field, a lake, and a distant forest under the setting sun, but in no way was it lacking. Each feature was painted with painstaking detail, and just from looking at the image Jack almost felt like he was standing in that strange place himself. It took effort to pull his eyes away and try to leave the room, knowing that he would be there all day admiring if he let himself look at the other paintings, but as he turned he saw a sixth painting, hanging just above the doorway.

It was a winter scene depicting a massive, deadly blizzard, but that wasn’t the reason Jack found himself rooted. No, the reason for that was the small dot of blue and white at the center, curled in upon itself in pain. Surrounding the dot were obscure trees, brush, animals and flurries of snow, but somehow the artist had managed to make everything in that painting face away from the tiny swirl of blue at its center. Except for a grey mass off to the side. It was strange, how the artist had managed to make that grey blob reach out an arm in obvious apology while still obscuring the viewer’s vision in much the same way such a storm as the one depicted would. Bunny had managed to convey every feeling through the snow whipping past the point of view, making everything clear despite obscuring the viewer’s vision. The painting was a contradiction of itself, and Jack immediately knew he had a new favorite work of art.

A few minutes of staring at the painting above the doorway later, Jack realized that he was crying. Immediately his arm came up and he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. His arm remained up until Jack had walked out of the room, and even then it took him a moment to start moving again. Jack checked the next few rooms, but did not bother looking closely at them. Bunny wasn’t here, so it was time to stop messing around and find something to take back to North. Best place to find something that might work for the spell? Bunny’s room. It didn’t take long to find, sitting at the end of the hallway behind a closed door. Jack didn’t hesitate this time when he reached out to turn the doorknob, though he did grant himself a moment to gather himself before allowing the door to swing open. It was Bunny’s sleeping chamber, and deserved respect at the least.

From what Jack could tell, Bunny’s bedroom was the most decorated out of all of them, though not by much. The walls had ornate designs dancing across them, and the ceiling was full of the little light plants that had been lighting Jack’s way since he entered the building. Along the walls there were shelves holding a variety of things, a nest large enough to fit three of Bunny while still having plenty of space left over, and off to the side was a closet that probably contained the old coat Jack had heard North mention last New Year’s when they had gathered at the workshop to celebrate. If anything could be used to find Bunny, that coat would be it.

Jack glided over to the closet and pulled the door open without ceremony, revealing a rack that held what little clothing Bunny wore. There was a spare bandolier, extra armbands and other protective bits of armor, and off to the side was a deep green coat, just as Jack had predicted. Jack reached in and pulled out the coat, ignoring anything else that was inside the closet, and turned to leave. It was then that he spotted, from the corner of his eye, something next to the nest. Jack should have ignored it and moved to leave, but something about the object drew at his mind. It felt as though it were… calling to him? Jack set the coat down at the edge of the nest and reached down to pull the object into view.

It was a stuffed animal.

The little stuffed creature was… strange, to put it lightly. Long snout, long ears, and a mane of sorts… really, it looked like the bastard child of a lion and an okapi. Jack smiled softly at it, rubbing his thumb over one worn-and-repaired side. It was cute in its own way, and was most certainly important to Bunny considering where it was. For a moment Jack thought about bringing it up with Bunny when they found him, but he immediately dropped the thought. It would probably end up sounding like he was making fun of him, when really it made perfect sense to Jack. Bunny had always acted like a loner, and Jack knew more than anyone how much a stuffed animal can help to ease loneliness. The little stuffed creature looked up at him with questioning eyes, and Jack knew that, somehow, this little toy missed Bunny just as much as Jack.

Jack sighed and placed the stuffed thing back onto Bunny’s nest, and as he turned away to grab the coat and leave, Jack reached up and ran a finger over the ear of the stuffed rabbit he had brought with him.

“We’ll find him. I know it.”

With that, Jack grabbed the coat and made his way back to the pole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of these days I'll post a chapter on the day I'm supposed to.
> 
> Oh well, Hope you guys liked it. :3


	7. Location

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "From his position on the ground floor, Jack could see dreamsand shifting around near the globe, where the crystal Manny used to communicate was kept. It took only a moment to shoot up and join the other guardians on the globe platform. North was busy setting up a collapsible table, while Sandy and Tooth stood off to the sides, waiting patiently for Jack to return."

Jack didn’t leave the Warren immediately after stepping out of Bunny’s hobbit-hole, though he had initially planned on doing so. Turning to look at the state of the land around him, however, froze him in place with renewed awe. Even now, after having searched the whole place over, he couldn’t truly process how drained the environment around him was. The Warren didn’t look right to him and, more importantly, didn’t _feel_ right. Jack’s awareness of the nature around him, so important to everything he did as Herald and Spirit of Winter, was telling him that this place was dead. It wasn’t true, Jack knew that just from looking at the plants around him, but in all honesty it may as well have been.

Sighing, Jack began his trek back to the tunnels that would lead him to the different parts of the world. Before he had only ever entered and exited the Warren from the Easter Island or Uluru entrances, since those seemed to be the main tunnels, but now that he knew he had a key he wondered if he could exit up at the North Pole. It would make the trip back to North’s that much faster, which meant they’d find Bunny that much faster. Jack wished he could call to the Wind to speed him along even further, but the dead air within the Warren wouldn’t carry his summons to her.

Yet another change that Jack didn’t like.

The walk to the Tunnels took several minutes, and finding the Tunnel leading to the North Pole took even longer than that, but once Jack had his bearings it took him no time at all to reach the exit point he was looking for. Now all he had to do was figure out how to open it and he’d have cut several hours off of his travel time. He tried tapping his foot first, imitating the pattern he’d seen Bunny use to call up his tunnels. When that failed, he used his fist to knock on the hard earthen ceiling. He tried pushing against the wall, ‘open sesame,’ and just plain willing the tunnel to open. Eventually, Jack sighed and turned around, hitting his staff against the wall in annoyance.

The Wind greeted his back happily in response.

Jack froze in place, then slowly turned back around to look up at the now open door into the arctic. It had opened, but why? What had he done?

He’d hit his staff against the wall.

Jack looked down at the curled wood beneath his fingers, then tentatively rapped it against the wall again. Above him, the tunnel closed back up. Another rhythmic tap and the ovular doorway opened once more. Jack puzzled over his find, looking over his staff and reaching out with his magic to feel of it. Outwardly, the staff was unchanged. It appeared as it always had, as the wooden shepard’s crook he had used to save his little sister centuries ago. The magic, however, was subtly different from his own in a way that it hadn’t been back when he was born into the spirit world. Jack wondered briefly why he had never noticed before, but upon further examination he smiled in realization. His magic was of Winter and Joy, but the magic mingling within his staff was of Hope and Spring. Spring and Winter, Hope and Joy. Two pairs of magical compliments.

“Well what do you know,” he said as he jumped out of the tunnels, “It was my staff all along. Sneaky Bunny is sneaky.”

Looking down at the stuffed animal in his in his hoodie, however, Jack realized that Bunny was probably trying to be the exact opposite. Not like he could have known how similar their magic would be, after all. Most spirits got stuck on the differences between the seasons and didn’t realize how close their magical components were to one another, especially the seasons that neighbored each other (Jack himself had been guilty of that misconception early on as well). Compile that with the fact that Jack and the other Guardians had only known that his center was Joy for just under two years and it was highly likely that Bunny had been counting on Jack to notice the difference right away. He _had_ used Jack’s staff after all, something that Jack was unlikely to lose and even less likely to not notice changes in. Smiling at his newfound knowledge, Jack made his way back to the others.

\-----G-----

Jack’s arrival in the workshop was noted not by the raucous noise he associated with crunch time at the pole, but by an uncharacteristic silence. The yeti and elves had all cleared out of the area, leaving production at a halt. From his position on the ground floor, Jack could see dreamsand shifting around near the globe, where the crystal Manny used to communicate was kept. It took only a moment to shoot up and join the other guardians on the globe platform. North was busy setting up a collapsible table, while Sandy and Tooth stood off to the sides, waiting patiently for Jack to return.

“Knock knock!”

The reaction was instant, Sandy and Tooth both turned to greet Jack with smiles, and North nearly dropped the table he was wrestling into position. “Jack!” Tooth cried, shooting over towards him. Her hand immediately fell to his shoulder with a gentle grip, “You’re back! Did you find Bunny?”

Jack sighed, “No Bunny to speak of. The Warren was…” was what? Drained? Dying? “Empty.”

Tooth frowned, lightly squeezing Jack’s shoulder for an instant before turning to face the still working North. “We’re almost done preparing,” she said, holding up a small glass flask full of blue liquid, “North’s just putting up the table to elevate the item we’ll be using.” Which made sense, Jack supposed. He didn’t know much about magic _spells_ , but he recalled that a lot of old wizards and witches elevated important items during their rituals.

Or maybe that was just in the movies? Books?

“Ха!” North exclaimed, interrupting Jack’s thoughts and patting the top of the table, “Jack! Perfect timing, we are ready for spell!”

Jack nodded, holding up the coat he’d pilfered from Bunny’s burrow, “And I’ve got something of Bunny’s.”

North chuckled and waved Jack over, “Is good choice, Bunnymund was never without coat until egg-hunts.”

Jack gave North a questioning look as he carefully laid the coat on the small folding table. “Until the Egg-hunts? What’s that have to do with anything?” _Also, Bunnymund? What?_

North chuckled, receiving the flask of liquid from Tooth and walking up to join him next to the table. Tooth rolled her eyes and fielded the question for him, “As Easter spread it became more and more difficult for Bunny to run around on two legs hiding his eggs. Eventually he stopped wearing the coat so that he could move freely on all fours.”

Jack nodded. It made sense, he couldn’t imagine anyone moving very fast while wearing a coat like that. The thing was huge, even compared to Bunny. He smiled, glancing over at it to examine the gold egg-buttons and intricate yellow trim. Then Jack glanced over at the liquid North was holding and frowned. “So what’s in the bottle?”

North beamed at him, clearly thrilled to explain, “Is important potion for locator spell,” he replied, moving the flask in small circles to mix it, “Making potion is hard part. Once done is simple as pouring over belonging of the person you seek with verbal request to find them.”

Jack’s frown deepened at that. “It’s not going to stain the coat, is it?”

North raised a bemused eyebrow, “Is to find Bunny, what would it matter?”

What would it matter? Really, North? Jack scowled, crossing his arms in front of him as he created an excuse of his worries, “Because that coat’s clearly important to Bunny? It was in the closet equivalent of a place of honor, North. I’d rather not have to explain why it’s a funny color, and I doubt the ‘it was to find you’ thing will go over well. There are probably other things that will work just as easily without the risk of Bunny killing me after we find him.”

North laughed in response, patting Jack on the back, “Нет, Liquid will dissolve into magic on contact with coat, does not leave any stains.”

Jack huffed in annoyance and snatched the flask from North’s hand, looking at the strange blue liquid inside with a critical eye. Finally, he glanced over at North, “So you just pour in on the coat and say ‘find Bunny?’ That’s it?”

North nodded, backing away from the table. “Though you will want to use his actual name, am not sure how spell will react to nickname.”

Jack frowned, “He never told me his real name.”

North, for his part, looked surprised. As did Tooth for that matter, though Sandy just quirked is eyebrow and smiled knowingly, the bastard. Jack’s frown deepened and he turned to face them properly, crossing his arms and glaring at the both of them. “You guys act like that’s surprising. Why?”

There was silence for a moment, then North responded. “Well…” hesitation permeated his voice, and he was scratching the back of his head, “Bunny told us his name when the Guardians were formed, would have thought he had told you after you joined us.”

Right. Well. Good to know that he was the only Guardian that didn’t know Bunny’s actual name. It’s not like he’d been tired of calling Bunny by what basically amounted to his title or anything. Granted, Jack hadn’t really given Bunny much reason to trust him with that information, had he? There’d be time to mope about that later, Jack decided, turning back towards the table and uncorking the flask. “So what’s his name then?” he asked, reigning in his disappointment at having to ask someone that wasn’t Bunny for the answer to that question. There’d been a lot of disappointments over the past day, what was one more?

North coughed behind him, then answered, “E. Aster Bunnymund.”

Jack nodded. Of _course_ Bunny’s name would be E. Aster. Considering how old he supposedly was, that’s probably the reason his holiday is named Easter in the first place. Humans pick up on the weirdest things, sometimes, like how Jack’s growing group of believers saw him as a big brother despite him having given them no real reason to. Or how the kids somehow knew about North’s love of baked sweets. Sighing, Jack shook the thoughts from his head and held the open flask above the coat. He stayed like that for a moment, collecting himself, and then spoke.

“I request guidance to E. Aster Bunnymund.”

And then the flask was upturned, and the liquid poured out. On contact with the coat the blue turned to gold, and the glow of magic spread across the item’s surface. Even when the bottle in Jack’s hand was empty and liquid ceased to fall on the cloth surface, the golden glow continued to spread across the garment. Jack floated backwards to join the others, watching as the coat slowly lifted into the air. It looked as if someone was pulling the coat up by a single thread where the liquid had contacted the garment. The glowing coat sat in the air for a moment, spinning slowly turning as if seeking out its prey.

Then it moved an inch towards Jack, and promptly fell to the floor.

The room plunged into silence as the golden glow faded from the garment lying innocuously on the ground. Jack stared at the coat for a moment, then glanced over at North. He already knew from the man’s flabbergasted expression what the answer to his next question would be, but he couldn’t help asking it anyways.

“That’s not supposed to happen, is it?”

North’s face scrunched up. His mouth opened, then closed again, and he raised his hand to his forehead. “Нет.”

Of course not. Why couldn’t things be easy for once? As Jack moved to retrieve the coat from its position on the ground, Tooth voiced his next question for him.

“What does it mean, North?”

Behind him, North grunted.

Avoiding the question. Not good. Avoiding questions meant bad things, in Jack’s experience. “North?”

Instead of answering, North turned and started shouting into the mostly empty workshop. Sure enough, a small gaggle of elves materialized in the doorway.

“Dingle!” All of the elves saluted, apparently not remembering which one of them was Dingle by the way they glanced at each other in confusion, “Fetch yeti. Tell them I will be needing sleigh immediately.”

Jack grumbled under his breath. Would it kill North to be straightforward with his answers for once? “Hey North! Mind answering the question?”

North turned to face the other guardians, his face contorted in some unrecognizable emotion.

“Either Bunnymund is with us in this room, or magic is being blocked.”

“Well I don’t see a Kangaroo in here…” which could only mean…

North nodded, “Precisely,” he stated, as if reading Jack’s mind, “Means we will need to be searching old fashioned way.”

“Well what are we waiting for, Easter?”

“Now hold on,” Jack glanced over at Tooth in surprise at the strangely annoyed tone. She was hovering towards North, arms crossed and expression even more so, “North, finding Bunny is important, but Christmas is right around the corner! You need to stay focused on your work. Jack, Sandy and I can search for Bunny.”

“But-“

“No buts, North,” Tooth retorted immediately, glaring daggers at the man, “What happened to all your boasting about how important your holiday is? We can’t have Christmas falling apart on top of Bunny going missing!”

North, however, returned the glare just as fiercely, “Christmas is important, yes, but not as important as safety of friend.”

Tooth’s glare waxed sympathetic, but remained just as fierce as before, “You _know_ I understand that, but what do you think would happen if another holiday somehow failed to happen so soon after that last incident?”

North flinched at the reminder, but his glare remained firm as well, “Yeti know what to do in my absence. It will hurt nothing if I assist in the search, may even help.”

Tooth didn’t get a chance to reply before North’s hands moved to his stomach.

“I feel it in my belly!”

There it was. There was no arguing with North’s belly. It didn’t have ears, first off, not to mention that it had yet to be wrong as far as Jack was aware. Tooth sighed, shaking her head in consternation, while Sandy seemed to…

Huh, that was something. Jack had totally lost track of the small golden man while he and North had been dealing with the locator spell. It didn’t take long to find him, however, as he was standing right next to Jack, staring at the coat in Jack’s hand as if it held the answer to any question he could ask. After a moment, Sandy realized that Jack was watching him, and immediately began to sign at a pace Jack couldn’t even _begin_ to keep up with. After a moment of trying to make sense of the rapid-fire images (had that been a UFO? an egg? A flask?), Jack began to wave the coat about in an attempt to slow the Sandman down.

“Hold on there, Sandy, I can’t understand a word when you’re talking that fast.”

Sandy frowned, but didn’t repeat the message. Instead he snatched the coat away from Jack and began looking it over again. Jack sighed as well, and left Sandy to… whatever it was he was doing. If it was important, he’d tell them. Sandy was good about that.

 _When people actually pay attention to him_ , Jack amended as he watched Tooth continue to argue with North over who would or would not be part of the search party, both completely oblivious to the exchange between Sandy and Jack. Did they always get this caught up in their arguments when there were more important things to do? Jack chuckled and made his way towards the nearest window. Even a year later and he was still learning new things about his fellow Guardians.

“Well,” Jack called back, “I’d love to stay and argue, looks pretty fun actually, but I’ve got an overgrown rabbit to find, so if you’ll excuse me…”

Sandy looked up and waved goodbye, though his attention remained largely on Bunny’s coat. Tooth and North, however, remained totally oblivious to the sound of windows clattering as they were shut by the Wind in the wake of Jack’s departure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is with great pleasure that I FINALLY post this chapter (even if it's lacking)!
> 
> It is with great _Dis_ pleasure that I announce that regular updates will most emphatically not be a thing I can do. Between college starting up again and my attempts to get an actual Job (Still not sure it's a good idea, Engineering pretty much eats up all the time you could possibly have, but having my own money _would_ be lovely) I won't have as much time as I'd like to put into this story. I'll keep working on chapters, and posting them as I go, but it could be any amount of time between one chapter and the next. 
> 
> Until then, I hope you enjoy everything I've put out so far. The words of encouragement you guys have given definitely helped me to get my arse in gear and _write_. Whenever I get the time, I'll definitely try do peck away at this some more. That, or toss another of my ideas onto the table to make way for more of this story in my head. :3


	8. The Fourth Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It had been three days since Jack had begun to search for Aster, flitting about the globe nonstop. The boy didn’t stop to rest or eat, and by the third day had begun to skip past smaller storms that he had previously taken a moment to shape into more benevolent forms."

Three days.

It had been three days since Jack had begun to search for Aster, flitting about the globe nonstop. The boy didn’t stop to rest or eat, and by the third day had begun to skip past smaller storms that he had previously taken a moment to shape into more benevolent forms. Aster was… not _worried_ exactly, spirits went without sleep or food all the time. He himself went without either during the last few weeks leading into Easter (though the resulting crash afterward was always somewhat brutal). It just seemed a bit out of character for Jack to be ignoring the opportunities to spread his mischief that the smaller storms presented, that was all. It wasn’t like Jack was unable to take care of himself, even _if_ he was clearly expending far more energy than needed so that he could finish working on his storms faster and return to his frantic searching.

And alright, maybe Aster was a little worried if he was being honest with himself. Not that anyone could blame him if he was, not when he could feel the worry and depression Jack was exuding grow by the second. He was more than a little relieved when Sandy finally found Jack halfway through the third day and forcibly dragged him back to the pole to sleep. Jack had argued with Sandy about it, but as Aster suspected he was too tired to put up much of a fight when push came to shove. It was almost funny how little effort it took for Sandy to snatch up Jack’s staff and pin him to his cloud of dreamsand. It _was_ mildly amusing when Jack was later dumped unceremoniously into the bed of his room at the pole, dropping Aster to the ground next to the bed in the process and fighting the pull of Sandy’s dreamsand the whole way.

It was impressive that Jack had managed to stay awake as long as he had, really, what with how much dreamsand he’d been caught up in during the trip. The salvo Sandy hit Jack with in response to his resistance that might have been a bit much, though. The larrikin would probably be out for the next twenty four hours after that dose. Once Jack had finally succumb to the calm embrace of sleep, his face burrowed into the pillows of his bed, Sandy reached down to pick Aster up off the ground. The Sandman ran his thumb over the toy’s face, features scrunched in thought, before placing a finger to his lips and tucking the stuffed rabbit in next to Jack.

Aster didn’t miss the sad smile Sandy favored the two of them as he drifted out of the room.

The instant the door shut behind the golden man a shiver ran down Aster’s entire form, familiar only in that it had happened once before. He remained motionless for a moment, still unused to the magic governing his current existence, then moved his arm experimentally before sitting up and looking around the room. Everything seemed about the same as it had the last time he’d been able to move, though Jack’s staff was now propped up against the door frame instead of the side table, and the moon was shining brightly through the balcony door. Aster leaned up against Jack, hoping to take a moment to think over the events of the past few days now that he wasn’t, completely understandably, worried out of his mind about the reckless idiot.

He hadn’t even had the chance to settle into place when a muffled grunt drew his attention to Jack. He couldn’t have shaken off the effects of the dreamsand _already_ , could he? When a second muffled noise issued forth, however, Aster realized it wasn’t coming from Jack, but from Jack’s hoodie. More noises issued forth, growing clearer by the moment, before Aster was finally able to make out a voice.

“…ever thinks ‘hey let’s get the stuff out of his pocket so he won’t be uncomfortable,’ nope! What if I’d broken under Jack’s weight huh? What then? I could totally happen! Lousy, stupid… Hey Fluffy! I know you’re out there! Give me a hand would ya?”

Pippa. Of course she’d be stuck under Jack. Aster shook his head and crawled towards Jack’s pocket, the opening of which was partially hidden beneath the boy’s slender frame. An arm that could only belong to Pippa was sticking out, waving around in an attempt to gain purchase on the smooth sheets below. After a moment of trying to figure out how he could possibly help, Aster shrugged and reached down to grab Pippa’s hand. A solid grip on the wooden arm achieved, though _how_ it had been achieved remained in question, Aster pulled. It took next to nothing to free the little wooden girl from her cloth prison, Jack’s weight proving itself to be nothing more than a small inconvenience despite Pippa’s claims. Aster raised an eyebrow at Pippa as she went through the motions of bushing herself off.

When she looked up, she scowled at him, “Oh shut up, I’m tiny alright? It’s easy to get stuck under things!”

Aster raised his arms in a placating gesture, “Whoa now, I didn’t’ say anything, Sheila.”

Pippa huffed and sat down, leaning up against Jack’s side. After a moment Aster joined her, sitting down with his legs up and leaning against Jack’s side. They sat there in silence for a while, giving Aster a chance to finally reflect upon everything. It had been a long three days, and while his thoughts had occasionally settled on what had happened in the globe room, or Jack’s brief visit to his home, they had largely been distracted from any true reflection upon the issues by Jack’s horribly downcast heart. Perhaps what worried him the most is how easily Jack seemed to internalize his emotions. He had seen glimpses of Jack’s face in the frozen lakes they had flown over, or reflected in the glass of a window being frosted, and not once had the expression matched what was going on within the boy’s heart.

No, the image in the ice or glass had been that of Jack Frost as he’d always been: Cheerful, Smiling, Happy, and an absolute lie. Each time Aster saw that fake smile he grew to hate it more and more. It was a mockery that didn’t belong on anyone, especially Jack, and yet it had convinced him and the other Guardians of its authenticity without issue.

“We need to do something.”

Pippa’s sudden words startled Aster off his train of thought, pulling his attention to the frowning girl next to him. He didn’t need to ask what she meant, he knew that she was talking about Jack’s self-destructive behavior. “But what can we do?”

The girl turned her head towards Aster, gaze evaluating. “I know what I can do,” she said, rubbing her thumb beneath her chin in thought, “but we need to figure out what you can do if you want to help Jack.”

Of course he wanted to help Jack, you don’t spend three days drowning in someone else’s depression and just pretend that they aren’t suffering! But… “I’m just a stuffed toy right now, Pip, can’t say I can think of anything I can do other than be cuddled.” He’d tried several times throughout the past few days to use his magic, to give Jack some kind of signal to where he was, but nothing had worked. His magic seemed to have fled from him.

Pippa just rolled her eyes, “Really, after everything I’ve told you so far you think we don’t have tools at our disposal to do our jobs?”

Well, no, but Aster still couldn’t think of anything useful a stuffed toy could do. “Not that I doubt you Sheila, but what exactly can a toy do in a situation like this?”

The wooden girl sighed, “Well, I guess you being totally clueless about this shouldn’t be a surprise. Whatever, I guess I’ll be playing exposition fairy a bit longer.”

“Exposition… what?”

Pippa chuckled and stood up, motioning for Aster to do the same, “Nothing, let’s get the explanations over with, shall we?”

Aster sighed and complied with her request, standing up as she had and waiting for the speech to start. Thankfully, he didn’t need to wait long.

“Right,” Pippa began, already pacing and motioning with her hands, “So remember how I said that there are specific names for some toys?”

Aster nodded, he did recall her mentioning something about that, “You also said that wasn’t important.”

“It wasn’t at the time, but it’s kind of important here. Different types of toys have different jobs, and therefore different tools with which to do those jobs. There are Four specific roles that a toy can identify as: Consoler, Admonere, Inductur, and Delector. ‘I Comfort,’ ‘I Remind,’ ‘I Inspire,’ and ‘I Delight.’ These roles describe the nature of a toy’s mission. Take myself for example. My Mission has always been to remind Jack of his center. ‘I Remind,’ therefore I’m an Admonere. Not all Missions match the role exactly, but most of them are fairly close. Understand so far?”

Aster nodded, it wasn’t too difficult to understand, really. A toy could be one of four things depending on the nature of its mission. Something did seem familiar about those titles, though Aster couldn’t place exactly what just yet.

Pippa smiled at Aster’s nod, “As you can imagine, Delectors are the most common toys these days since the majority of the new toys are made solely to entertain. Bringing Joy to children in general is their mission, though that’s not always the case. Occasionally one of those mass-produced robots or Barbie dolls ends up as an Inductur and inspires some little girl or boy to Dream big and grow up to be something amazing. A fair few fashion designers had their initial spark stoked by one of those dress-up toys, you know. And I imagine that more than a few little boys that grew up wanting to build robots that were as cool as their favorite toy.”

Aster nodded again. Admoneres dealt with Memories, Delectors brought Joy, and Inducturs inspired Dreams. Suddenly it made perfect sense that the titles would seem familiar. “Let me guess, Consolers are there to help those kids that need something to Hope for, am I right?”

Pippa’s eyes widened in surprise, but so did her smile, “Pretty much, Yeah! Nice guess, Fluffy.”

“Wasn’t really a guess, to be honest,” In fact, it was pretty damn obvious once all the pieces were in place, “You Toys are quite a bit similar to the Guardians, based on what you’ve told me. You lot deal with Joy, Dreams, Memories, and Hope in just the same way. Only thing missing is Wonder.”

At that, Pippa chuckled, “Is our very existence not Wondrous?”

Huh, there was a point. The fact that toys could walk and talk was certainly a wonder in and of itself.

Wait.

“Last time we talked you mentioned that there was someone who can talk to us. A Toy Maker. What’s his name?”

Pippa cocked her eyebrow, “Nicholas St. North. You know, Santa Claus? Figured that would be obvious fluffy, he’s the only centuries old toy maker I know of.”

Bingo. All Aster had to do was get in the same room as North when no one else was around and-

“I hope you aren’t coming up with some stupid plan to try and talk to the Toy Maker, because this time of year it’s not happening. Especially not with the Easter Bunny M.I.A.”

-another plan bites the dust. Aster didn’t need much more than that pointed reminder. The girl was right, between joining the search party and the preparations for Christmas the chances of talking to North were abysmal. Aster sighed, falling back against Jack’s side. Why did something like this have to happen when the one person he might have been able to communicate with wouldn’t be a viable option?

“Anyways, Fluffy, weren’t we talking about something?”

Right. Helping Jack. Probably a better use of time than moping about bad timing from a curse, or whatever this was. “Aye, sorry.”

Pippa nodded, “Its fine, talking to the Toy Maker would be the fastest way to get you back to normal were it not for how busy he is this time of year, I understand. Though that’s not exactly helping Jack.”

Aster sighed, apparently the girl hadn’t made the connection yet. Nothing for it, he’d have to fill her in later. For now, though, figuring out how to keep Jack from doing something stupid was more important. “So you just finished explaining the different roles?”

The girl nodded again, “As I said before, the tools at a toy’s disposal are different based on what role they serve. Admoneres like myself typically hold some precious memories that we can give to our charge when they need it, and a lot of us can help bolster the strength of any memories Queen Toothianna sends our way, not that she realizes when we do it. We can do other things, but a lot of that is based on the specific toy in question. I myself can remind Jack of times when he’s most happy, Snowball fights with the kids for the most part. Anything to do with his sister as well, now that his memories from his human life have come back. Not all toys can do the same things as others in their role, but if we can figure out what you are we should be able to start figuring out what you can do.”

“What about Consolers?” Considering his center, Aster figured he’d most likely be the kind of Toy most linked to Hope. Best to learn about them first. In front of him, Pippa cocked her head to the side and held a hand to her chin in thought.

“You think you might be one?”

“There’s a good chance I’d say.”

“Right,” Pippa sighed and began to pace about again, “I’ve only ever met a few Consolers, so don’t quote me on this, but if I recall correctly they tend to have the most powerful empathy. Most toys have some form of it, but Consolers get the heavy stuff. It’s pretty much required that they know exactly how their charge feels if they’re going to know when they need the most help. Not to mention knowing _how_ to help. Close second in that department would probably be us Admoneres, though most of us only get a sense of when our charge needs to remember something.”

That explained why Aster couldn’t disconnect his empathy from Jack then, it was probably the magic of his new body asserting its influence.

“Aside from that I’m not totally sure. Jumble was one, but he never really explained how his powers worked to me. Only thing I ever got from him was about soothing nightmares. Apparently his presence repelled most of them, but the really bad ones needed to be dispelled.”

Dispelling nightmares, huh? “Natural nightmares or created ones?”

Pippa shrugged in response, “I don't know? I mean, there’s not much difference between a natural nightmare and a created one is there?” Her face scrunched up in annoyance, “I mean, I suppose a created nightmare would be harder to deal with. Like I said, that’s not my territory, so I don’t know as much about it as I could.”

Great. Of all the things the girl didn’t know… Aster shook his head. “You know, you still haven’t told me how you know-“

Without warning something struck Aster from behind, cutting off his inquiry and sending him careening through the air. Pippa shouted out in surprise before falling off the bed herself, dislodged by whatever force had sent Aster flying. Aster landed a few feet away, bouncing slightly off the ground before coming to a halt near the door. Shaking off the shock from the sudden attack, Aster jumped to his feet, taking on the closest thing he could manage to a fighting stance in his plush body. He scanned the room, searching for whatever it was that had struck him before realizing that no new enemies had made an appearance. If they had, he wouldn’t still be moving about.

Following that revelation was the realization that Jack was flailing about on the bed, the dream that should have been floating above his head having vanished. A quick check on Jack’s sleep-muted emotions confirmed what Aster had already begun to suspect.

Jack was having a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's a thing. Hope that cliffhanger's got some suitable handholds on it, don't want anyone falling off. Probably not the best chapter in the world, but eh, at least we learn more about the toys, right?
> 
> Since Jack got two chapters in a row, so does Aster. Next up: A crash course in toy magic, courtesy of conveniently timed nightmare.
> 
> Hope everything is up to par. I think I could have done better, but since when is the guy who made something ever satisfied with how it turned out?
> 
> >.>


	9. A Voice that Belongs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aster could feel Jack’s emotions, muted as they were by the dreaming, whirling about in frenzy. Panic, Joy, Anger, Hope. There was no rhyme or reason to the transitions between them, but each switch was so sudden that Aster couldn’t help but feel that the kid must be suffering from whiplash at this point. Whatever was happening in that dream, it needed to stop.

_A forest stretched out before him, impossible in its scope and saturated in white as the storm raged around him. He had been playing in that white, dancing in the chilling powder and building monuments to the cheerful cold, but now he was running running running through the impossible forest and he was searching searching searching for something. Someone. Someone that should have been there playing with him in the snow but wasn’t. He could hear the voice out there in the darkness, forever distant and unintelligible no matter how swiftly he approached, and he ran towards it through the powdery white that built up around his legs and tried to hold him in place. He ran and looked and called out a name that wasn’t and still he made no progress. The someone that belonged but wasn’t there remained unseen in the distance, and try as he might he couldn’t reach them. The wind, normally so kind, pushed against him and his desperate need to move forward and find the one he was searching for._

_Then suddenly progress was made._

_There was light ahead, floating in the trees and outlining a strange-shaped silhouette that wasn’t strange because that’s exactly how it was supposed to be. He knew that silhouette, and hope welled up within his being at its very presence. It was the one he was looking for. The one that belonged. There was no one else it could be with those ears and that tail and mouth. He called out the name that wasn’t again and reached forward, desperately trying to catch the elusive silhouette of the one should be there but wasn’t. For a moment he felt like the one who belonged was within reach, and his heart sang with joy._

_And then the shadows stopped him._

_They reached out and grasped at his arms and legs and pulled him back with such force that he lost his non-existent breath. His heart’s song rang with anger. The shadows were trying to stop him from reaching the one in the light. The one that belonged. He refused to allow them to stop him, and so he lashed out against the willowy tendrils of darkness. They fled, for a moment, but more took their place. Writhing and grabbing and holding and keeping him from his own. He fought back, writhing and twisting and turning in an attempt to free himself from their iron grasps. The powdery white built up around him, trying to help the shadows hold him in place._

_And then the voice, deep and earthy, spoke clearly, and the whole world stopped to listen._

“Jack!”

_)(---G---)(_

Aster was already moving towards the boy writhing up on the bed even as Pippa recovered from her own fall, taking only seconds to cover the distance between the door and bed. He leaped towards the nearest ledge on the wooden frame before him, gripping it with the tips of phantom fingers and pulling himself upward. The climb took longer than the dash from where he had landed, if only due to the lack of handholds, but he still managed to clear the edge of the bed within the same minute. Jack’s frenzied motion had calmed somewhat, but he continued to jerk and turn, as if fighting off some invisible force. Aster approached carefully, dodging limbs whenever they veered too close and threatened to send him flying once more. Behind him Pippa pulled herself up as well, carefully keeping herself low in order to avoid Jack’s flailing limbs.

Aster could feel Jack’s emotions, muted as they were by the dreaming, whirling about in frenzy. Panic, Joy, Anger, Hope. There was no rhyme or reason to the transitions between them, but each switch was so sudden that Aster couldn’t help but feel that the kid must be suffering from whiplash at this point. Whatever was happening in that dream, it needed to stop.

“We need to wake him up!’ Aster called back to Pippa, already moving to push against Jack’s shoulder.

There was no response for a moment, likely because of an arm veering too close for comfort, but then Pippa squeaked out a remorseful sounding “we can’t.”

At that, Aster stopped moving entirely, just barely ducking under Jack’s arm as he turned to look at the wooden girl, “What do you mean can’t? He’s having a bloody nightmare, of course we should wake him up!”

“You don’t understand,” Pippa called back, trying to crawl closer even as she spoke, “we _literally_ can’t wake him up! Jack’s one of the lightest sleepers on the planet, how do you think we’ve been sitting next to him talking for as long as we have if we were capable of waking him?”

Aster growled in frustration, “Then what are we supposed to do?” he shouted, not waiting for the answer as he turned to Jack and pushed against the boy’s shoulder.

“Come on, Jack, you gotta calm down mate.”

Aster felt something tingle across his cloth tongue, and as if responding to his voice Jack’s panicked motion began to calm. Aster glanced back at Pippa, who shrugged and stood up, the threat of being knocked off the bed no longer looming over their heads. Unable to think of anything else, Aster took a breath and spoke again.

)(---G---)(

“It’s just a bad dream, Jack, nothing to get worked up over.”

_He believed the voice of the one that belonged, why would it lie to him? He stopped fighting against the shadows and snow, because they were just dreams that weren’t really there, and they in turn began to relinquish their hold upon his form. The voice sounded out again, wordless noises that issued forth from the silhouette before him as if reprimanding some other being out of sight, before the shadow of the one that belonged turned to face him once more. He- Jack- smiled and stepped forward, no longer held in place by the shadows. He reached up and placed a hand against the shadowed form before him, using touch to identify what sight could not._

_There was soft fur, and then the distinct feel of a leather bandolier. Jack’s heart leaped with joy and he jumped at the one that was found- at Bunny- hugging the giant rabbit with all the force he could muster. The white and cold fell away from the world, and the light died down into a warm yellow glow. The fireplace in Bunny’s living room._

_“I thought you were gone forever.”_

_The response was delayed, as if trying to comprehend the words, and Jack almost pulled away to try looking at the rabbit’s face again before an arm swung around his back and the answer arrived._

“I’m right here, Jack.”

_It was a strange response, and Jack found himself frowning as pieces slowly fell into place. He was dreaming, Bunny had said so and Jack trusted Bunny. So that meant Bunny was a dream too._

_“Bunny?” Jack was hesitant, he didn’t want Bunny to just be an illusion. Still, he had to know for sure. “You’re not really here, are you?”_

_Again the response was delayed, as if the rabbit were trying to decipher the words. Maybe he wasn’t speaking clearly enough? Jack tightened his hold, “You said this was a dream, that means you aren’t here either, doesn’t it?”_

“It is just a dream,” _came the response after a few moments,_ “I _am_ here though, Jack.”

_Oh. Good. Bunny was here in the dream too. Or was that bad? Jack didn’t really know. Nor did he care, instead pulling his rabbit closer. He was comfortable, laying there with bunny on the couch. He didn’t recall lying down, but it didn’t matter. It was a dream after all._

_But Bunny wasn’t. Bunny was real and Jack took solace in that fact. Bunny was there and everything would be alright because that meant Bunny was safe. Didn’t it?_

_“I thought you were in danger.”_

“You’re safe, Jack.”

_Jack frowned, did he not say what he thought he had? “What about you?” he asked. He had to know his Bunny was alright._

“I’m safe too, Jack. Don’t worry.”

 _Good, Bunny really was okay. He could worry about everything else when he woke up, for now Jack would simply smile and bask in the warmth of Bunny’s presence. Bunny’s voice sounded out a few more times, but Jack couldn’t understand the words. It was alright, though, because he was_ there _and not out hurt somewhere. Whatever it was though sounded important, judging by the tone of voice Bunny was using. They’d probably have talk about whatever it was in the morning._

_Until then, though, Jack was content right where he was._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SO much shorter than I wanted it to be, but to be honest I couldn't think of a better way to end it off. Everything I came up with felt like a beginning, rather than a middle or an end. And so, you have a short chapter.
> 
> To be honest, this isn't actually how I'd planned things out at the start. Rather, this is the story going off and doing it's own thing. I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. 
> 
> Also, if ever you find yourself unable to write? I highly recommend listening to something by Joe Hisaishi. Absolutely brilliant composer. Had difficulties starting this chapter up, but then I put [Fragile Dream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zL7c5Z0HDA) on loop and suddenly words happened.
> 
> [View of Silence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIKIfNxSM8E) was also listened to during the writing of this chapter. Both are beautiful, and go well with the material within. :3


	10. Failure, Cowardice, Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Pippa finally connects the dots, and Aster wishes she hadn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heads up before this chapter starts: There have been some small changes to previous chapters regarding events discussed in this chapter. While I'd been planning this little reveal for some time, I realized that I maybe didn't word things properly when hinting, or that it might make more sense in hindsight if something were added.
> 
> The majority of the changes are small, you might not even notice them if you read back through before reading this chapter, but they're there.
> 
> Also, you'll notice there's a new, sparkly bolded tag up there. There's a reason for that.

Aster sighed into Jack’s shirt, having been encircled by the spirit’s arms shortly after he began to “speak” with him. It had been a clumsy affair, with Aster having to decipher mumbled half-sentences and reign in his own uncertainty over his apparent abilities. There was no way to know what Jack was actually trying to say, and so Aster had been forced to guess and hope that he was right (He was sure he’d failed to translate properly at least once). More than that, Aster had no idea how his strange power worked, and how much Jack really heard of what he’d said. He hoped, distantly, that the young man had heard his last, hasty disclosure of his location, but he was sure that was not the case. By then, the tingling of magic that had graced his tongue had ceased.

The situation was becoming more and more frustrating. It felt like the world was actively trying to keep him from telling the others where he was.

Aster’s attention was drawn to a soft noise off to the side, and looking over he spotted Pippa leaning up against Jack’s arm. She had a frown on her face, and looked deep in thought. Even as Aster began to work his way out of Jack’s arms, he saw her sending calculating glances in his direction. It wasn’t until he had managed to free his entire upper body, however, that the girl spoke. “Jack’s much calmer now,” she noted dully, her tone as calculating as the look she was giving Aster, “Good Job. I hope you don’t make a habit out of impersonating people, though.”

Right, he’d nearly forgotten that Pippa hadn’t realized just who he was yet. He’d have to fill her in soon. In the meantime, however, he simply offered a shrug, “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Sheila.”

Pippa’s eyes narrowed, her expression darkening, “Jack was asking for that _Rabbit_ , and you spoke as though you were him. It worked, sure, and I don’t really understand how consolers are supposed to do things, but I can’t say I agree with that course of action.”

The tone Pippa was using when she spoke of the ‘that rabbit’- of Aster- was scathing. Aster was taken aback by the hatred Pippa had managed to compress into just two words. He was sure she had mentioned him once or twice before without such a hateful tone, but thinking back he couldn’t remember how the words had been said. Until now, he realized, he’d been too focused on Jack and his own situation to notice the subtle hiss of violence underneath her words. Swallowing an imaginary lump in his throat, Aster mumbled under his breath and pulled his legs free. He wasn’t sure why she’d be so hostile towards him, but suddenly the prospect of filling the girl in on who he was seemed a bit less attractive.

“What was that?” The girl’s voice as she responded to Aster’s mumbling was tense, and Aster could actually hear the sound of creaking wood lacing itself underneath her words, grating against his hearing. An aimless dread began to curl up within his non-existent stomach, and Aster found himself hesitant to respond. The undercurrent of noise grew steadily each second that he stalled.

“Nothing,” he said in hopes of her letting it slide.

The undercurrent of noise that Pippa was creating died down, and Aster found himself in silent relief that she had not pursued her line of questioning further. Her hostility towards him- or rather, towards the Easter Bunny- was unnerving. He wondered why she harbored such anger towards him. He wouldn’t follow through on the curiosity, though. He had an inkling of what the reason could be, and really it was better to leave his failures in the past where they belonged.

“I bet you’re wondering why I hate him so much. the Rabbit, I mean.”

Pippa’s sharp words caught Aster off guard, pulling him from his thoughts. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, “N-not really, no.”

The wooden girl, however, ignored his answer. There was a cruel glint in her eye as she turned to face away from Aster. “A while back,” she began, her words almost too steady, “Jack hit his lowest point. He was depressed, _hopeless_ , and decided that it would be a good idea to start siphoning all his power off into a storm.”

Aster felt like a deer in the headlights. He knew where this story was going; it was a memory he’d tried very hard to shove to the back of his head. With the girl telling it out loud, however, visions of that day rushed to the forefront of his mind. Visions of a snowy forest and _Depression anger sucking void hopelessness red on blue on white a child what have I done please still be-_

Pippa continued her narration, apparently unaware of Aster’s growing panic as he tried to banish the flashing visions from his head. “That was when the _Easter Bunny_ found him. The _Guardian of Hope_ ,” and at this Pippa stopped to scoff, “You’d expect him to help someone in Jack’s position, wouldn’t you? Stop the madness and console him, right?”

Without waiting for an answer, Pippa whipped around, her eyes locked on Aster and face expressionless. “Well he did stop Jack, and in the process almost finished what he started.”

Aster sucked in a breath, “Maybe,” he responded, voice somewhat shaky, “He was in a bad way himself. Has to be a reason he reacted how he did, yeah?”

Pippa scoffed, “Hah, reason? Like what? What reason could have have had for such an extreme reaction?!” The girl held up her arms in a mockery of distress, “’Oh no there’s snow on my eggs I’d better _beat_ the _obviously suffering_ culprit until he’s a _bloody mess_!’”

“It _wasn’t like that._ ” 

Aster knew before the words left his mouth that he had just put the final nail in the coffin, but he was past the point of caring. The only person besides Aster himself with the right to dredge up the memories of that day, to call him on that failure, was Jack. No one else. But Pippa’s eyes lit up at Aster’s words, at his admission of his identity, and she pressed even more, the growl like splintering wood returning in full force. “Really now?” she asked through the noise, voice raised in outrage, “then tell me, _rabbit_ , just what was it like? Did you think beating him senseless was the logical course of action? He couldn’t move from that cave you left him in for _weeks_ , and even when he could move again he was unrecognizable under the bruises you gave him!”

Aster flinched from the description, his traitorous mind providing images of Jack bruised and bloodied, “Stop.”

It was too late, though, Pippa had seen him flinch. She had seen a sign or weakness and now was pressing forward at a pace that forced Aster to step back in order to retain at least some of his personal space.

“The only reason he didn’t die is because you threatened to come back and do worse if he so much as thought of it!”

No. He- Yes, he _had_ made that threat, but he hadn’t-

“Was that your idea of _helping?”_

 _“Stop_.” _Please._

“What is _wrong_ with you?! Someone is clearly suffering and you just toss fuel on the fire? Jack may not be a child, but he needed your help and you just- just,” Pippa growled in frustration, “and you _dare_ call yourself a _Guardian_?”

Finally, Aster could take no more.

“ _I made a mistake_!” Aster’s anguished cry completely overwhelmed Pippa’s voice as his control finally snapped, “I made a mistake, alright?”

Pippa was quiet. Aster could stop talking right there and end the conversation, but words tumbled out of his mouth, heedless of his desperate desire to lock the memory back up. The dam he had long ago erected to keep his emotions in check finally breaking under the last bit of pressure the little wooden girl had provided. “I was angry even before I discovered that blizzard," he explained, "I- I wasn’t thinking straight when I found Jack and… Do you _realize_ what it was like? To come across someone with this sucking _void_ where hope should have been? Any other day I… at the time all it did was remind me of just how much of a _failure_ I am.” Aster was sobbing now, much as a toy could, his glass eyes misting over in a mockery of tears. He’d been angry; at himself, at the universe, at everything. He’d needed someone to blame and along came Jack and his storm, the perfect target for his rage. “How could I face him after what I did?”

Aster remembered finally gaining a grip on his anger, and finding himself standing over this small, broken body. He remembered dragging the body, somehow still clutching a staff, through the blood-soaked snow to a nearby cave to get it out of the storm. He remembered desperately pushing energy into the small form in hopes of somehow preventing the loss of life, inadvertently creating a key to his warren in the process. He remembered his relief when Jack took a breath, and an empty threat to never repeat the incident. He remembered being terrified, panicking over the small, blood-soaked form as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered realizing what he had done and how all he could think was that he had _almost_ _killed a child_ ; that he had almost killed someone that _needed his help_.

He had been so afraid then, unable to think straight as he’d panicked over Jack’s barely alive body. He should have brought Jack to the Warren with him, treated the wounds and _begged_ for forgiveness, for whatever good that might have done. Instead all he’d done was run off like a terrified kit. Yes, he’d set the kid inside that cave to keep him safe, but compared to what he _should_ have done that meant nothing. He should have owned up to his mistake then and there. He should have tried to make it right. He should have-

But he didn’t. Instead he had run away, just as he always had.

Aster had once been called a general, hailed as a great warrior, but in truth all he had ever been was a coward.

After a few moments of silence, Pippa found her voice. “Aster I-“

“No,” Aster was _done_ talking. He’d already spilled his guts, regardless of whether he’d meant to or not, was that not enough for her? Was it not enough that she’d had him relive that memory?

“Please I-“

Aster cut her off with a bestial snarl. “In case you weren’t aware,” he said though his growling, “This conversation? It’s over.”

Even if Pippa wanted to argue, she wouldn’t get the chance. The now familiar sensation that signaled Jack’s awakening returned, and Aster allowed himself to fall limp against Jack’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that happened.
> 
> And yes, that was how I'd planned for this iteration of 68 to go from the very start. There's a reason Aster didn't think he deserved forgiveness, and this would be why.
> 
> As a side note, this will be the first scene that's changed from how I initially wrote it(and also the first scene I've written in advance of it actually occurring). I actually wrote this whole "Pippa finds out who she's been helping, gets pissed and forces Aster to relive '68" thing a while back, but several parts have changed now. Like what they were talking about beforehand. where they are, ect.
> 
> Hopefully this isn't just straight up horrible, it just seemed like the best place to put it. It was most definitely something that needed to be addressed, I think. It's entirely likely I'll come back later and make changes to smooth it over, but until then I guess you're stuck with it.


	11. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even above the storm, Jack found himself buffeted by the occasional squall, independent from the Wind herself. A few more minutes of travel, and Jack was close to the storm’s center. With a breath to brace himself Jack dove down below to meet the chaos.

“Oh come on!”  
  


 The indignant shout of frustration echoed off the frozen cliffs around North’s workshop as Jack found himself launched into yet another snowdrift. It took a moment for Jack to climb out of the hole his forced landing had created in the white powder, and when he did he glared into the arctic night sky, doing his best to pin down the Wind with his gaze. It didn’t work, of course, but that didn’t stop him from trying. Jack huffed in annoyance when the Wind ruffled his hair in response. He was certain she was laughing, even if he couldn’t hear it.  
  


 A golden glow to Jack’s left drew his attention. Sandy, of course. The golden man was floating at the crest of a snowy mound, arms crossed in front of him and amused expression just screaming ‘what are you doing?’ Jack scowled, flipped him off, and attempted to lift into the sky once more - only to get flung backwards yet again.  
  


 Jack pulled himself from the snow mound he’d been dropped into just in time to see Sandy bumping his fist against the air to his side, eyes still locked on Jack’s position. Jack frowned and stood up, brushing snow off of his legs and-  
  


 Wait.  
  


Immediately Jack turned his gaze up to the sky, pointing at the air with an outstretched finger. “Traitor!” he shouted, trying once more to pin the Wind down with the force of his ire. He was again unsuccessful, but he kept at it regardless. “I can’t believe this! You’re in cahoots with Sandy? Really?! When did this happen?”  
  


Off to his left, Sandy began to count on his fingers.  
  


“Oh shut up,” Jack growled out, his patience depleted. With both Sandy and Wind against him, there was no way Jack would be leaving the pole. Despite how much it rankled, he had no choice but to put a hold on his search. Jack sighed, turning to march back towards the door to the workshop. Sandy gave him a surprised look as he passed the golden man, before turning to follow. It occurred to Jack as he stepped through the massive double doors of the workshop that the decision to place a hold on his search was surprisingly easy, given that Bunny had been missing for closing on a week now. Jack should be out there, searching just as Tooth surely was at that very moment.  
  


Instead, he was standing in the entrance hall of the Pole, wondering why it was so easy to be doing just that.

  
A tap on Jack’s shoulder drew his attention back to Sandy. The Sandman looked worried, brow creased in concern as he signed out a question in sand. 'Are you alright, Jack?’ the figures seemed to say, the grains chiming like bells as they shifted into place.  
  


Jack sighed, looking up at to the ceiling as he answered. “Yeah, Sandy. Just thinking is all.”  
  


Sandy huffed silently, motioning with his hands for Jack to continue, not truly believing a word of what he was saying. It was nigh unto impossible to hide anything from Sanderson Mansnoozie; he could see through nearly any facade, as though able to listen to the very hearts of those around him. Jack sighed again, knowing that continuing to stall would be pointless. When he replied, though, the words were still hesitant. “It’s just, putting a hold on searching for Bunny? Deciding to do that… it’s almost too easy,” Jack shook his head at the thought, a frown stretched across his features, “I should be fighting to go out there and look, and instead I just… gave up. But it doesn’t feel like I’m giving up? I’m not sure how to-“

  
Jack cut his sentence short, choosing to place a hand upon his forehead and groan in frustration instead. “Maybe it was that dream I had that made the difference,” he grumbled.

   
At that Sandy perked up, looking at Jack with a question mark above his head. ‘What do you mean?’

   
“Oh, uh,” Jack shifted in place, “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

   
Sandy smiled, running pinched fingers across his lips.

   
“Sandy, you sealing your lip means nothing and you know it.”

   
Sandy huffed silently in response, rolling his eyes and swiped his finger over his heart twice.

   
Jack frowned, shifting nervously again and looking around. Seeing no one but himself and Sandy, he began to speak. “Last night, after you put me out, I had this really weird dream. Bunny was there, and I think he said he was alright?”

   
Jack sighed, “It’s not too clear, really, I just remember… he pulled me out of what was probably a nightmare, and he was-“

   
And then Jack stopped speaking entirely, his attention drawn away from the conversation and snapping to the whisper of the Wind beneath the door. Sandy looked like he had something to say, but Jack ignored him for the moment and walked past him to throw the door open, allowing the Wind to rush inside and wrap around him, carrying with it the feel of a building storm. Jack frowned, turning to face the Sandman again.

   
“Sorry, Sandy, something’s come up.”

   
Sandy frowned, giving Jack an annoyed look.

   
“Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t be going anywhere right now. I get it, alright? But I can’t ignore this. Huge winter storm is rearing its head where it shouldn’t.”

   
At that, Sandy sighed and shook his head, then, as if remembering something, perked up. The image of a rabbit hovered above his head. It took a moment for Jack to realize what Sandy was getting at, but as soon as he did his hand shot to the stuffed rabbit in the collar of his hoodie. “Ah, right, probably shouldn’t take him into a storm like this, should I?” Pulling the rabbit from its resting place, Jack held it out to Sandy. “Would you mind keeping an eye on him? I need to get going, like, now.”

   
Sandy beamed at Jack, taking the stuffed animal from his hand and cradling it in his arm like a precious artifact. The safety of his new friend secured, Jack waved goodbye to Sandy and darted outside. A jump and a shout later, Jack was shooting through the air towards Europe.

 

 

 Within thirty minutes Jack could see the edges of the storm forming above Scottish isles, the cloudbank completely obscuring his view of the landmasses from his viewpoint in the upper troposphere. The clouds stretched for miles, mostly consisting of angry grays. Even above the storm, Jack found himself buffeted by the occasional squall, independent from the Wind herself. A few more minutes of travel, and Jack was close to the storm’s center. With a breath to brace himself Jack dove down below to meet the chaos. Chunks of ice fell in sheets, battering the land below even as the beginnings of a cyclone formed above. The currents of air tore at the ground and sky, bending trees below and ripping shingles from the roofs of those few houses in this part of the Scottish Highlands. Even with the protection of the Wind herself, Jack could feel the sharp bite of the storm as it tried to claw at him in its rage.

   
With barely a thought, Jack unfocused his eyes, allowing what he called his ‘storm-sight’ to superimpose itself over his vision. Where most weather consisted of simple natural phenomena, storms were living, breathing entities. Completely intangible, their forms were invisible to all but a few lucky spirits such as Jack. What they looked like was always somewhat different, but Jack had seen patterns. The playful snowstorms he was fond of creating tended to take feline or avian shapes, for example, and windstorms seemed to tend towards equine forms. With exceptions, of course. They were mindless for the most part, but still managed to have unique personalities. No two storms were ever exactly alike.

   
The storm Jack now faced was a menacing creature. Its head was much like that of a lion, sharp rows of teeth and wild, flowing mane of thunderclouds. It was quadrupedal, it’s body massive and bulky. While its head was that of a lion’s the rest of its body was almost like a wolf’s, and its paws were distinctly bear-like. Its tail, long and wispy, swished recklessly through the air behind it, stirring up currents which threatened to join together with an already forming cyclone. Jack scowled at the creature in front of him, sitting within the eye and stalking north-east towards a city visible in the distance. Inverness, maybe. The look in the storm’s spectral eyes was one of blood lust. Jack wasn’t sure what exactly had birthed it, this winter was meant to be mild, but this storm was out to kill.

   
Jack wasted no time in darting forward to intercept the storm, already plotting out his next few actions. Jack dived in from the south, catching the clouds of its mane with the crook of his staff and shooting past its eyes.

   
Surprised and temporarily blinded the storm-beast roared in anger, a thunderous sound much like that of an enraged tornado, and swatted the air in front of it with its paws. It missed, but the currents its wild swinging created knocked Jack to the side, forcing him to release his hold on the clouds. Almost immediately the storm-beast’s mane flowed through and around its head, leaving its spectral eyes to dart about in search of the one who had dared to blind it in the first place.

   
Soon the creature’s gaze fell upon Jack, and the storm roared in anger once again. Jack smiled and shot off to the west, swinging his staff at the storm beast as he passed in order to irritate it further. With the storm’s attention on him he could begin to lead it away from civilization.

   
The storm-beast turned quickly, following Jack’s movements with its eyes and attempting to swat at him with its front paws. Jack ducked under the massive appendages, shooting down closer to the ground to avoid the air currents the attacks would leave in their wake, before swinging his staff to return fire.

   
A few weak blasts of ice to keep the storm’s attention focused on him struck the storm-beast’s side, sinking into its spectral flesh before being assimilated into it. The attacks did their job, however, drawing another enraged roar from the creature and causing it to pounce towards Jack, leaving the eye of the weather system. The weather around them responded to the change immediately, the winds changed direction, pushing the system’s eye towards the beast that was its center. Jack smirked, dodging away from yet another attack and baiting the storm-beast further west.

   
Redirecting the storm, however, was the easy part. Actually dispelling it would be much more difficult. He couldn’t simply kill the storm-beast, it would leave behind a large weather system without an anchor to keep it in check. No, he’d need to pick apart the system surrounding the manifestation first, weaken it until it was manageable. From there he could either tame the storm or dispel it.

   
Ducking under another swipe from spectral paws, Jack reached out to the clouds above with his magic, feeling for the tendrils of magic that bound them to the storm. It took a bit to find them, between dodging the Storm-beast’s haphazard attacks and checking his path to make sure he wasn’t leading the storm towards populated areas, but soon Jack was able to grip the streamers of energy that held the system together.

   
And sever them.

   
The storm reacted instantly; lightning struck and the beast roared in pain as Jack began the process of picking apart the closest thing it had to a physical body. By the time Jack had cut away twenty percent, however, the storm-beast had recovered its senses, and began its fight anew. There was no more swiping with spectral claws, instead the creature let out a piercing whistle, calling to the clouds above to heed its commands.

   
The winds began shifting, feeding the cyclone Jack had seen attempting to form only minutes ago with renewed vigor. A funnel of air and cloud dropped from the sky around Jack’s position, and with his vision obscured and his movement hindered Jack found himself unable to properly dodge when the beast’s paw came barreling towards him from the side.

   
The blow wasn’t a physical one, the appendage passing through Jack as though neither existed, but it still brought with it a concussive force that sent Jack flying nearly a half-mile to the south.

   
Jack scowled as he recovered from his sudden relocation, eyes locking onto the storm-beast’s spectral form as it rapidly approached his new position. Quickly, Jack reached back into the clouds, gripped the streamers of energy once more, and pulled.

   
The storm-beast staggered to the side in response, growling in annoyance as it tripped over its own paws.

   
Using its momentary distraction to his advantage, Jack quickly began to sever the storm’s connections to the weather system once more. Another twenty-five percent of its connection was cut away, and the beast responded with a still thunderous, though less threatening roar of anger.

   
Behind it, the tornado it had formed began to rope out, returning to the sky as the beast staggered to its feet and charged at Jack. Releasing his hold on the magical tendrils of energy that held the storm together, Jack shot off to the side, narrowly avoiding the storm-beast’s jaws.

   
Jack took the opportunity to take hold of the weather system one final time, breaking apart the last connections. Around him the ice had already begun to let up in its assault against the ground below, and up above the clouds began to slowly drift apart, allowing beams of sunlight through. Jack turned his gaze to the storm-beast, staggering around in the sky to his right, and watched as it began to dissipate as well.

   
The clouds of its mane brightened as they split apart, and its form began to unravel from the outside in. Jack heaved a sigh, and blinked away his ‘storm-sight.’ He’d expended a good chunk of energy dealing with the storm, and as the clouds parted to reveal the sun he saw that he had used up a large amount of time as well. It had been around noon when he had arrived, and now the sun was nearing the horizon.

   
The storm was taken care of, however. Jack could now return to the pole and-

   
A dark shape flitting across his peripherals drew Jack’s attention. His eyes shot to the right, searching for what he had seen. On the ground, a shadowy form stared up at him.

   
“A nightmare?” Jack puzzled aloud, “But that would mean…”  
  


Jack’s eyes widened in realization. If Nightmares were out and about, that meant Pitch could be active again. It wasn’t something he’d expected so soon after the boogeyman’s prior defeat, but the proof was below him, dodging away from beams of sunlight as they broke through the clouds. Immediately he scowled, the timing couldn’t be coincidence.  
  


The nightmare broke into a run once more, and Jack gave chase.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'd intended to keep this hidden away until I had a few more chapters done, but seeing as Christmas and new years have passed...
> 
> Consider this my belated present. :3


End file.
